Dendrochilum

Dendrochilum (commonly abbreviated Ddc. in horticulture) was a genus of epiphytic, lithophytic and a few terrestrial flowering plants in the orchid family (Orchidaceae). It is now considered to be a synonym of Coelogyne Lindl. The name of this genus was derived from Ancient Greek words Template:Transliteration ("tree"), and either Template:Transliteration ("lip") or Template:Transliteration ("green food"), alluding to either the flowers' large lip or to their epiphytic growth. These orchids are popular among orchid collectors.

Distribution and description

File:Dendrochilum glumaceum 26.jpg

A single flower of the Hay-scented Orchid (D. glumaceum) seen up close

Dendrochilum are distributed at higher elevations in the humid rainforests throughout the Malesian region, with some in the surrounding lands; thus they occur from Southeast Asia to New Guinea. However, most species are found on Borneo or the Philippines.

This genus produces miniature, fragrant, star-shaped flowers that are generally produced in two rows on erect or arching pendant, many-flowered racemes. These inflorescences can grow to a length of Template:Convert (e.g. in the Hay-scented Orchid, D. glumaceum). The stems are ovoid to cylindrical, striped, sharply reduced pseudobulbs, about Template:Convert long, with green to brown bracts at their base. Each carries one or two tough, erect and lanceolate leaves, usually about Template:Convert long, with narrow petioles. The elliptical leaves of the Long-leaved Dendrochilum (D. longifolium) may grow to a length of Template:Convert.

Taxonomy

The precise number of species is disputed; many websites accept as few as 100 or so, while others recognize far more. For example, the World Checklist of Monocotyledons lists 390 records, including names that have become synonyms. Numerous new taxa have become known in recent decades.

Many of these orchids (67 species in the list used here) were named by Johannes Jacobus Smith, an eminent Dutch botanist. The genus' type species, described by Carl Ludwig Blume in 1825, is Dendrochilum aurantiacum of Java and Sumatra. Several species were formerly separated in Acoridium (established by Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck and Franz Julius Ferdinand Meyen in 1843) or Platyclinis (established by George Bentham in 1881), but these two taxa are now regarded as synonyms of Dendrochilum.

Selected species

• Dendrochilum anfractum
• Dendrochilum aurantiacum
• Dendrochilum cobbianum
• Dendrochilum cootesii
• Dendrochilum glumaceum
• Dendrochilum ignisiflorum
• Dendrochilum javieriense
• Dendrochilum longifolium
• Dendrochilum magnum

References

• Banks, David & Cootes, Jim (1995): The genus Dendrochilum. In: Orchids Australia.
• Barkman, T.J. & Wood, J.J. (2004): The genus Dendrochilum. In: Pridgeon, A.; Chase, M.; Cribb, P. & Rasmussen, F.N. (eds.): Genera Orchidacearum (Vol. 3). Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.
• Cootes, J. (2002): Dendrochilum: elegance in miniature. Orchid Review 110(1246): 212-217.
• Pedersen, H.A. (1997): The genus Dendrochilum (Orchidaceae) in the Philippines – a taxonomic revision. Opera Botanica 131: 5-205.
• Wood, J.J. (1997): Orchids of Borneo (Vol.3: Dendrobium, Dendrochilum and others). Sabah Society, Kota Kinabalu and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

External links

• Template:Sister-inline
• Template:Wikispecies-inline