Is this a dendobium? If so, which group?

[nutgirl]

Am I right in assuming this is a Dendrobium? If so, does anyone know what kind and what catagory it falls into. It has little green buds coming out on the bare canes.

Thanks,
Maureen

[RosieC]

I would guess Den as well but can't say more than that.

[PaphMadMan]

Not my strong point, but I'd say it is definitely a Dendrobium, possibly Nobile type.

[slipperfreak]

Yes, it's a Dendrobium, and it could be a nobile, or a victoria-reginae, or something similar. A Dendrobium expert may be able to peg it down, but more than likely we'll need to see flowers to be sure of what it is.

[nutgirl]

Thanks, Rosie, Joe, and "Paph".

Hopefully I'll have flowers soon to help answer the question.

Maureen

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

For sure a Dendrobium.

It's not a nobile type, wrong kind of cane.

Too big to be Den victoria-reginae and they also have a bit of reddish pigmentation on the leaves and cane. The canes also tend to sprawl all over the place.

Honestly, unless you've got a picture of the flowers or dried up flowers, I can't tell if it's a phalaenopsis type or spatulata type, or whatever else it could be.

Are you sure the "buds" are flower buds or are they kheikis?

[nutgirl]

No King, I'm not completely sure they're flower buds (wishful thinking, I guess). They certainly could be keikis.

Since I'm not familiar with this type of plant I'm mostly guessing at what it's doing.

It does not have any pigmentation on the leaves. The canes are very narrow at the base and about 1/2" in diameter with an average 10-12" in height.

I unpacked the sphag it was potted in and found multiple plants. Individually the canes on each plant are definitely floppy.

I as hoping for an idea of what kind of culture it should have, whether it needs winter rest etc.
but I know that's hard without blooms.

Maureen

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

If you don't mind me asking...

Where'd you buy this? What I'm trying to find out is, whether the place you got this from would normally carry a fair amount of species type Dendrobiums.

[shadytrake]

Well according to my Dendrobium book (IMHO), this probable Hybrid would fall under Section Dendrobium:

Quote:

This is the type section for the genus as it includes the type species D. moniliforme. It is a large section of 50 to 60 species occurring from India to New Guinea and
Australia in the east and Japan and Korea in the north. The centre of distribution lies in the area from India to Indochina including China and Thailand. They are mostly epiphytic plants of low to moderate altitude in areas with a distinct dry season. This section is related to Calcarifera, Pedilonum and Formosae.

The stems are of moderate length and often swollen into club-shaped pseudobulbs. The leaves are borne along the upper two-thirds of the stem and are usually deciduous after a year. There is a leaf sheath. The flowers are produced from the apical part of the stem on long or short inflorescences in the dry season. The lip is entire and there is a short mentum. The flowers are often large and showy - many of the popular species in cultivation are in this section. END Quote

Of course, take this with a grain of salt. Yours is probably a Hybrid so it won't follow exactly the description. Also it is good to note that several of the species listed in this section have long & thin canes.

I have 4 Hybrids that require a winter rest/dry period that fall in this section and they each have very different canes. 2 of them have fat clubby canes, 1 of them has medium thick but long canes, and 1 of them has very thin canes which looks very similar to yours.

The medium thick caned is Den Princess x Gold Star 'Royal'

Interesting to note the one that is thin caned one is Den Princess x unicum which looks very similar to yours in plant size. (just based on the foliage)

So even if it may not have nobile in it, I think yours might be in the same section. You will definitely be able to determine more when it flowers.

Just my

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

How about this...

Are you able to take a close up photo of those "buds"?

If they truly are flower buds, that can eliminate certain sections of Dendrobium.

For instance, if the flower buds emerge from the cane itself and not on a long inflorescence, that pretty much eliminates Dendrobiums in the section Phalaenanthe (the phalaenopsis type Dens), and those in the section Spatulata (the Antelope Dens). Which then opens up the possibilities of them belonging to section Dendrobium or section Calcarifera.

I do agree with Melissa that it is most likely a hybrid.