Den. aphyllum...I think??? Part II

[Junebug]

Here are some photos of 2 similar looking nobiles. One is an aphyllum and the other I'm not sure about. The only visible difference I see is a faint faint yellow on the lip of the plant in question. The canes on both plants are about 1/3 as thick as a pencil. The leaves were identical when they both had them. Take a look and see what you think.

Aphyllum


Questionable I.D.

[gnathaniel]

Hmm...well, based on your description the width of the canes sounds like aphyllum, but the blooms of the second plant definitely don't look like that species.

I had previously said it might be primulinum based on the yellowness of the lip, but I think others were right that it isn't. Primulinum has flowers that present a lot like aphyllum's (which your plant's don't) and the canes are also thicker than aphyllum's (ditto).

My best guess is that you have a Den. Bohemian Rhapsody, a primary hybrid of aphyllum and loddigesii. I have a small (unbloomed) one of these and it has narrow canes like both of the parents. From the pictures I've found online the flowers can be somewhat variable, but often favor the aphyllum parent plus some yellow in the lip from loddigesii. The more upright (than aphyllum) dorsal on yours could reflect loddigesii influence.

It could also be Den. Jan Orinstein, which is a hybrid of aphyllum and primulinum, but my money's on the Bohemian Rhapsody or something similar.

Also possible that it's a natural hybrid of any of the above species or others. According to the Bakers' Dendrobium book the three species I mentioned have similar natural ranges, and from the similarity of the flowers they probably share pollinators as well (though staggered bloom seasons or different fragrances or other factors may keep the species from interbreeding very often). Hope this helps!

--Nat

[Junebug]

Originally Posted by gnathaniel

Hmm...well, based on your description the width of the canes sounds like aphyllum, but the blooms of the second plant definitely don't look like that species.

I had previously said it might be primulinum based on the yellowness of the lip, but I think others were right that it isn't. Primulinum has flowers that present a lot like aphyllum's (which your plant's don't) and the canes are also thicker than aphyllum's (ditto).

My best guess is that you have a Den. Bohemian Rhapsody, a primary hybrid of aphyllum and loddigesii. I have a small (unbloomed) one of these and it has narrow canes like both of the parents. From the pictures I've found online the flowers can be somewhat variable, but often favor the aphyllum parent plus some yellow in the lip from loddigesii. The more upright (than aphyllum) dorsal on yours could reflect loddigesii influence.

It could also be Den. Jan Orinstein, which is a hybrid of aphyllum and primulinum, but my money's on the Bohemian Rhapsody or something similar.

Also possible that it's a natural hybrid of any of the above species or others. According to the Bakers' Dendrobium book the three species I mentioned have similar natural ranges, and from the similarity of the flowers they probably share pollinators as well (though staggered bloom seasons or different fragrances or other factors may keep the species from interbreeding very often). Hope this helps!

--Nat

Thank you for your effort to I.D. my nobile.

This is the first time I've seen blooms on the second plant. It was given to me late last summer. At the time it was surviving in moist decayed potting media. I recognized that it's canes and leaves looked very much like my aphyllum so I chose to mount it to see what would happen. It only produced 3 blooms and my aphyllum only 5. The aphyllum is much healthier and should have produced more. It may have been discouraged by my overzealous watering at the onset of buds. Other factors may have been light and temperature. Central Florida's temps. consistently dipped into the high 20's and low 30's for 3 consecutive weeks. During that time all my chids were brought indoors and subjected to 70 degree temperatures and a much lesser degree of lighting. This year I plan to keep up the same cultural requirements and hope for less severe temperatures next winter. Will also exert a greater degree of patience on resumed watering until more buds pop out. The aphyllum has over a dozen established canes and has popped out 16 new ones. If everything goes well. next bloom season could potentially result in a grand display.

[gnathaniel]

You're welcome, Junebug! This section of Dendrobium is one of my favorite types of orchids, so I'm always happy to look at them and yak about their ancestry, growing conditions, etc.

It sounds like your plants are set up pretty well, these seem to like being mounted IME. I actually didn't get any blooms at all on my bigger aphyllum this year, just tons of keikis!

I'm not exactly sure what I did wrong, it had essentially the same conditions as about 10 other species or hybrids of this section that all bloomed or are budding very well. I tend to water my dens throughout the winter (with less frequency than during the growing season), so maybe aphyllum really does want NO water at all...

You may be right about the temperature thing, too, from what I've read manipulating temps is a reliable way to induce (or presumably suppress) blooming in these species. At least you got a few blooms, though!

--Nat