Monday, December 21, 2015

Dendrobium hippocrepiferum

This unusual species is from New Guinea.  I've just bloomed it for the first time and only one flower, so the photos are limited.  The plant is a mass of thin growths with short fat leaves that remind me of some conifers.  The flowers are less than 1 cm and are held "upside down" in comparison to most orchids, i.e., the lip is uppermost.  Flowers like this that do not twist around before they open and that hold their lip uppermost are called non-resupinate.  The species name, hippocrepiferum, means "horse-shoe carrying" and refers to the horseshoe-shaped and joined sepals (not really visible in these photos).



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