Northern pencil orchid (Dendrobium calamiforme)
Description
Epiphytic or lithophytic herb forming pendulous clumps. Aerial roots absent. Stems pendulous, to 200 cm x 0.4 cm wide, dark green to yellowish, straight, branching outwards to form series of tiers. Leaf terminal on stem, pendulous, sessile; lamina terete, 10-40 cm x 0.4-0.8 cm, dark green, robust, fleshy, not grooved, apex acute. Inflorescence an axillary raceme, stiffly erect, 50-80 mm long, from node near leaf base; pedicels 10 mm long. Flowers 5-12, crowded, non-resupinate, porrect to nodding, star-shaped, 15-20 mm x 20-25 mm, white to cream with a few central purplish stripes, fragrant. Sepals and petals vary from hardly to widely spreading. Dorsal sepal narrowly triangular, obliquely erect, 20-25 mm x 3 mm. Lateral sepals similar to dorsal sepal, 20-25 mm x 4 mm, bases fused to column foot. Petals obliquely erect, linear, 17-21 mm x 1 mm. Labellum curved, 20 mm x 5 mm, 3-lobed; lateral lobes erect, obtuse, with some purplish spotting; midlobe narrow, 3-3.5 mm wide, apex caudate; upper surface with 3 undulate ridges. Column 2-3 mm long. Column foot 4-6 mm long, slightly curved, in line with column. Capsules porrect to pendulous, dehiscent.
Taxonomic tree
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Domain: Eukarya
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Kingdom: Plantae
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Phylum:
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Class: Liliopsida
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Order: Asparagales
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Family: Orchidaceae
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Genus: Dendrobium
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