Dichaea pendula

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Finally figured out how to grow this species! This newly acquired division has bloomed for the first time under my care, and is about to put out another one.

This is the first time I've not once experienced severe die back issues, and that is far better than just getting this guy to bloom!

It is extremely fragrant! The flowers are about 7 mm - 8 mm in diameter, but the fragrance can be smelled from about 6" - 8" away! My mom says it smells a lot like fresh tobacco from a cigar, I'd have to say I concur. The fragrance is sweet and of heavy substance, but it is also spicy - with just the right amount of kick.

Unfortunately, the bloom is extremely short lived as I've mentioned prior in a few posts a long time ago. They only last 3 days. But they only go into full bloom for less than a day (sometime in the early afternoon hours).

I figured it's been a while since I've posted anything, so I'd post this.

Pictures to be posted later, been busy, and it is still inconvenient to upload pics directly from my camera onto this new computer.

I'll describe what the flower looks like in the meantime -

They are about 7 mm - 8 mm across. The sepals and petals are a yellowish-olive green, with purple spotting. The lip is shaped like an anchor and is also purple. The back of the petals and sepals are warty. What makes this flower unique are the wings on either side of the column and the upper part of the lip that are edged in fine dentition (teeth). There is a small callus on the upper part of the lip close to where the column is. Below the stigmatic opening there is also a flap that acts like a trap door to seal the stigmatic opening after pollination.

Hopefully, the pic I post later will be able to show the fine details of the flower.

[WhiteRabbit]

Tease! looking forward to seeing pix!

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Here are the pics.

[Bud]

Its a lovely flower....it must be very exciting to have bloomed this plant....just as I am very excited that my Dichaea glauca has five buds....I was expecting it to have blooms coming out of every leaf just like the pictures inthe books....oh well....maybe next cycle of blooms it will happen

[RosieC]

Cool cute little flower and great work getting it to bloom finally.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Thanks Bud and Rosie.

This species doesn't seem particularly difficult to get blooming. I've not done anything special other than try to keep it alive. I have actually bloomed another division of this species before. Both divisions came from the same source, and therefore came from the same plant, btw.

Unfortunately, the older division of Dichaea pendula did not make it. At the time, I had difficulties figuring out how to grow them. Getting Dichaea spp., in general, to stay alive and grow has been very frustrating and challenging in the past. This time around, it has been smooth sailing so far...

I've admired Dichaea spp. ever since I found out about their existence. They are an interesting group of plants with a unique growth habit and growth form, and the flowers may be small, but they are incredibly striking. Hopefully this one will be a long term keeper.



Bud, your Dichaea glauca can still put out more blooms. Just wait it out and see. The photos you see of Dichaea glauca with rows of flowers are from good sized plants. I don't know how tall the tallest growth on your plant is or how large of a cluster of growths your plant has, but if it just ends up putting out five blooms for now, I'd say it's fine.

[smweaver]

Very cool bloom and plant. Although I've seen Dichaea glauca before, I haven't heard of this one until now. I really like the intricate blooms on your Dichaea pendula, and the plant habit looks nice and tidy also.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Thanks, "smweaver".

This is one of the rarer species offered for sale. I don't know very many people selling this species quite honestly. In fact, I'd venture to say there's only one guy I know who sells them. I don't know how he acquired it, but he has this species growing for about 20 yrs and counting!

I love Dichaea pendula partially for the growth habit, they have a neat appearance and they superficially look like fern fronds.

The flowers are beautiful and interesting too, despite being ephemeral in nature.

The fragrance is just so powerful for such a little flower. This is truly a gem.

I kinda wish I have a genetically different individual of this species to breed. Actually, I don't even need the plant. I just need pollinia. Oh well, we'll see how things go in the future.