ID Help for Dendrobium speciosum
 

I got this plant a long time ago as a tiny seedling that was labeled Dendrobium speciosum. Now that it's getting larger, however, I'm trying to determine which of the subspecies it might be. Can anyone who's familiar with speciosum and its numerous variants (curvicaule, tarberi, capricornicum, etc.) give me a hand with identifying it, please? The reason I think it might be one of the subspecies is that A) I couldn't find any online pictures of the standard variety of speciosum (even young ones) that look like this one, and B) on the old tag there's a very faded reference to a "var. compactum" (which didn't seem to be of much help as I couldn't find a reference to any speciosum compactum on the web). If anyone wants to take a shot at identifying it, I would greatly appreciate your help. Thank you!

Steve

All of the speciosum plants I've seen in person were big huge things... (curvicaule & grandiflorum) 30 cm and larger.

The only small sized one (5 cm - 30 cm) that I can see is pedunculatum - is your plant flowering size now? What size pot is it in?

I don't know whether or not my plant is flowering size; however, based on your description of the plant sizes you've observed, I would have to assume that it has not yet reached adulthood. It's in a 25 cm pot, and the largest growth is very close to 30 cm tall. It produced a sheath last winter, but no spikes appeared. Thank you for your feedback.

I've had two dendrobium speciosum in my collection:

The first was a 1991 auction find. The plant was well established in an 18 inch basket and had 12-18" pseudo-bulbs and leaves about the same. Inflorescences ranged from 24 - 30" with 75 - 100 fragrant flowers. We'd love to have it considered for a cultural award but when in bloom, it was impossible to get it out of the greenhouse.

During one of his visits, our friend made a selfing of the 'monstah' and in 2003 gave us several seedlings that are much more manageable. The flowering in the 2008 photo is on one of these seedlings. The plant is in a 6" pot. Pseudobulbs and leaves are more compact than the parent - plants are still young; inflorescences - 10 of them! - are pretty spectacular.

BTW, Victor adopted the 'monstah' in 2004 and has promised a good retirement home for the seedlings.

If you really want a positive ID, bring the plant or an inflorescence to a taxonomist.

Hi Steve,
I can't give you any help, but maybe here
Topics - Orchid Spring Discussion Board
you'll find some taxonomical advice about Dendrobiums.
Good luck
Alessandro

Steve:
This may help with a positive id for your plant:

Approved American Orchid Society Taxonomic Authorities

When choosing a Taxonomic Authority, please consider CITES restrictions on shipping prohibited
species of plants or parts of those plants across international borders.

David Banks
39 Carole St., Seven Hills NSW 2147, Australia
02 9674 4720
davidpbanks@veritel.com.au
Specialty: Australian epiphytic an dterrestrial orchid species, Dendrobium, Bulbophyllum, Coelogyne, Dendrochilum

Dalton Holland Baptista
Rua Joao Antonio, Morato do Amaral, 45, Piracicaba, SP 13423-242, Brazil
55-19-3424-2564
dalholl@terra.com.br
Specialty: Orchids native to Brazil

David E. Bennett Jr.
Francisco Tudela Varela 229, Miraflores, Peru
55-1-440-2051
Specialty: Orchids of Peru

Guido Braem, PhD
Naunheimer Str., 17, D-35633 Lahnau, Germany
braem@onlinehome.de
Specialty: Orchidaceae in General, excluding Pleurothallidinae

George Carr
1321 Oak Valley Drive, Seffner, FL 33584
(813) 653-3794
cycnoches@earthlink.net
Specialty: Catasetum

Phillip Cribb, PhD
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 3AE, United Kingdom
p.cribb@rbgkew.org.uk

Stig Dalstrom
Orchid Identification Center (OIC), Marie Selby Botanical Gardens
811 South Palm Avenue, Sarasota, FL 34236
(941) 955-7553 ext. 14 / (941) 951-1474
sdalstrom@selby.org
Specialty: All Orchidaceae, Cochlioda, Odontoglossum, Cyrtochilum, Solenidiopsis

Calaway Dodson, PhD
1550 Eastbrook Drive, Sarasota, FL 34231
(941) 388-1517
pchdodson@comcast.net

Robert Dressler, PhD
Jardin Botanico Lankester, Universidad de Costa Rica
PO Box 1031-7050, Cartago, Costa Rica
rdressler@cariari.ucr.ac.cr

Richardo Fernandez
Museo de Historia Natural
Apdo. 140434, Lima 14, Peru
51-1-471-0177
rforchid@hotmail.com
Speciality: Peruvian Orchid Species

Eric Hágsater
Asociación Mexicana de Orquideología, Herbarium Director
Apartado Postal 53-123, 11320 Mexico, D.F. Mexico
52-52-62-31-02 (office) / 52-52-94-28-62 (herbarium) / 52-55-31-43-49 (fax)
herbamo@prodigy.net.mx
Specialty: Epidendrum

Wesley E. Higgins, PhD
Orchid Identification Center (OIC), Marie Selby Botanical Gardens
811 South Palm Avenue, Sarasota, FL 34236
(941) 955-7553 / (941) 951-1474 (fax)
whiggins@selby.org
Specialty: Encyclia, Prosthechea, Dinema, Euchila, Oestlundia

Harold Koopowitz, PhD
14081 Brenan Way, Santa Ana, CA 92705
(714) 838-4826
hkoopowi@uci.edu
Specialty: Paphiopedilums, orchids of Southern Africa including Eulophia, Disa etc.

Carlyle A. Luer, MD
3222 Old Oak Drive, Sarasota, FL 34239
(941) 953-3435
E-mail cluer@juno.com
Specialty: Pleurothallidinae

Francisco E. L. F. De Miranda
5103 Old Polk City Road, Haines City, FL 33844
(863) 422-9398 / (863) 422-9398 (fax)
fmiranda@worldnet.att.net
Specialty: Brazilian Orchids, Cattleya

Thomas J. Mulhollan, MD
148 bussellridge Rd.
Ardmore, OK 73401
(580) 226-4528 / (580) 220-6205 fax
tjm@cableone.net
Specialty: Neofinetia falcata, richardsiana and xichangensis (Fuukiran, Fukiran and Furan)

Dr. Henry Oakeley
77 Copers Cope Road, Beckenham, Kent, England BR3 1NR
20-8658-0358 / 20-8658-0359 (fax)
henry.oakeley@virgin.net
Specialty: Lycaste, Anguloa, Ida

Pedro Ortiz V.
Carrera 10 No 65-48, Bogota, Colombia
57-1-6405011
portiz@javeriana.edu.co
Specialty: Odontoglossum, Sigmatostalix, Encyclias, Colombian Masdevallia, Colombian Oncidium

Franco Pupulin
PO Box 26-1009, Fecosa, San Jose, Costa Rica
506-552-3247 / 506-552-3151 (fax)
fpupulin@cariari.ucr.ac.cr
Specialty: orchids of Central America, especially Costa Rica; subtribes Oncidiinae and Zygopetalinae

Gerardo Salazar, PhD
Departamento de Botanica, Instituto de Biologia, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico
Apartado Postal 70-367, 04510 Mexico, D.F. Mexico
(52/55) 5622-9095 (direct) / (52/55) 5622-9070 ext. 47773 / (52/55) 5622-9071 ext. 47773 /
(52/55) 5550-1760 (fax)
email: gasc@servidor.unam.mx
Specialty: Mormodes, orchids of Mexico in general.

Kenneth Wilson, PhD
251 Creekside Drive, League City, TX 77573
(281) 554-4277 / (281) 554-3477 (fax)
krwilcreek@aol.com
Specialty: Tolumnia

(Updated: May 30, 2007)

Below is a cut and paste of something I found on the web.

Wow I helped someone YaY

D. speciosum var. pedunculatum
In the days before Steve Clemesha sorted the varieties out this jewel of an orchid was just known as D. speciosum
var. compactum.
D. speciosum var. pedunculatum is unusual that it goes over the Great Divide more so than all the other varieties
that are more inclined to favour the eastern side of the range. The Atherton tableland Herberton area is the heart of
var. pedunculatum country, though I believe its range extends as far north as the Palmer River.
The name var. pedunculatum is very apt for this variety, as it describes its most important feature, the peduncle.
Which, in common language, is the stalk that carries the head of flowers on the plant. In other varieties the
peduncle is usually only up to 100mm long, but in var. pedunculatum it can be anything from 250mm to over
500mm!
Next to its peduncle the most outstanding feature of this variety is its size, or the lack of it! Many clones never
produce a cane over 50mm in length, whilst an odd giant might make almost 200mm.
As one would gather from the dwarfish appearance in general var. pedunculatum grows almost exclusively on
exposed rock faces, mostly in full sunlight where over millennia it has learnt that small is beautiful when it comes to
controlling moisture loss in an environment that can be very harsh at times. The plants are rather dwarf overall,
every compact in fact the canes on some of the very small clones sometimes look very like a small potato. On the
larger clones the canes taper from either end as does var. curvicaule I find also that clones of var. pedunculatum
that have been shadehouse grown for a number of years are gradually producing proportionally longer canes.
Whether this is shade or just a better food supply I cannot really say, perhaps it is a little bit of both. On Tamborine
Mountain I find that var. pedunculatum is not happy sitting on a bench even though my benches are chest high but
prefers to be right up against the sarlon where it gets as much sun as nature can provide.
One feature of var. pedunculatum that I regard as unique is that it will flower for years off the mature growths but
only from the apex of the cane. I have yet to see a genuine var. pedunculatum flower from anywhere but the apex
eye.
Most clones of var. pedunculatum are rather heavily pigmented; some showing a rich purplish shade on the new
growths, the flower scapes and the underside of the leaves. This could be caused by the forms' exposure to so
much intense sunlight in nature. In shadehouse conditions I find it disappears from some plants over the years. In
my conditions I find the plants of var. capricornicum from the Carnarvon area retain more coloration than the var.
pedunculatum does.
There is no doubt about var. pedunculatum being dwarf in habit but no way are the flowers dwarf when they
emerge! I have seen flowers from white through to cream but none of the yellows or golds that show up in the other
varieties. Perhaps they are out there but I am yet to see them. To me there seem to be two different types of flower
on var. pedunculatum one that does not seem to open very well and the other opening to a large flat flower of great
appeal.
This is the form that interests me greatly as a hybridist I think a whole new field lies hidden in the makeup of this
variety. When trying to evaluate a variety of D. speciosum the first thing I like to do is to make D. x delicatum with it.
This is a hybrid that we all are so familiar with that we can use it as a yardstick to see if there are any different
qualities in the new parent. We have already learnt that var. pedunculatum allows the colour of the other parent to
come through strongly and can produce very large flowers.
Whether it is general in this form or not I cannot say as yet but we do know that some clones of var. pedunculatum
will produce hybrids that flower in less than two years from flask, which is quick in my culture for a Dendrocoryne.
I also have a penchant for dwarf-growing plants. I think there is great charm in a compact plant covered in flowers. I
have always admired this type but never got around to doing anything about it until my interest was jogged again by
orchid breeders from Japan visiting our nursery and going into raptures over plants of var. pedunculatum and D.
kingianum var. pulcherrimum

IVP - could you please state where you obtained that information from and from whom ..
We must give credit where credit is due.
Thanks :)

Some thoughts on Dendrobium speciosum

Opps -:biggrin: so true.

:) Thank you :bowing