Orchids of New Guinea

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Dendrobium alexandrae

Dendrobium alexandrae Schltr., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 1 (1912) 493; 21 (1923) t. 168, fig. 624.

Type: Schlechter 19857 (holo B, lost).

Synonyms:

Latourea alexandrae (Schltr.) Brieger, in Schltr., Orchideen, ed. 3, I/A (1981) 727.
Latourorchis alexandrae (Schltr.) Brieger, in Schltr., Orchideen, ed. 3, I/A (1981) 727.
Sayeria alexandrae (Schltr.) Rauschert, Feddes Repert. 94 (1983) 466.

A robust epiphytic plant. Pseudobulbs subclavate, longitudinally sulcate, up to 55 by 1-2 cm, 3-4-leaved at apex. Leaves erect-spreading, coriaceous, elliptic, acuminate, 11-16 by 3.5-5.5 cm, bluish-green. Inflorescence subterminal, up to 25 cm long, laxly 3-7-flowered; bracts lanceolate, acute, 3-6 mm long. Flowers large; pedicel and ovary about 1.8 cm long. Dorsal sepal lanceolate, long-acuminate, c. 5 cm long; lateral sepals falcate but similar; mentum broadly conical, obtuse, 1.3 cm long. Petals spreading, obliquely lanceolate, 5 cm long, with conspicuously undulate margins. Lip shortly clawed and cuneate below, 3-lobed, 5 by 3 cm; side-lobes erect, subquadrate, with crenulate margins; midlobe much longer than side-lobes, ovate, long-acuminate, 3.7 by 2 cm; callus 3-ridged above, with an apicule on claw below. Column short, fleshy; foot 1.3 cm long.
(after Cribb, 1983).

(after Cribb, 1983).

Colours:

Flowers yellowish, spotted dull red on sepals and petals; lip shining violet with brownish violet spots and venation.

Habitat:

Epiphyte on high branches in lower montane forest, in rather exposed positions. Altitude 900 to 1200 m.

Distribution:

New Guinea.

Distribution New Guinea:

Papua New Guinea (Sandaun, Morobe, Central and Milne Bay Provinces).

Map: Dendrobium alexandrae Schltr., distribution map, redrawn from P. Cribb, Kew Bull. 38 (1983) 250, map 4, with new records added.

Cultivation:

Intermediate growing epiphyte.

Flowering time in the wild:

June.

Classification:

Family Orchidaceae
Subfamily Epidendroideae
Tribe Dendrobieae
Subtribe Dendrobiinae
Genus Dendrobium
Section Latouria
Species Dendrobium alexandrae

Literature:

Cribb, P.J. 1983. Kew Bull. 38: 251, map 4.
Cribb, P.J. 1985. Orchadian 8: 83.
Spence, P.J. 1997. Lasianthera 1: 154, fig. 1, pl. 3C, D.

Notes:

Dendrobium alexandrae Schltr.is a large-flowered species, most similar to Dendrobium spectabile Blume but differing in its shorter broader lip and in lacking the strongly undulate margins to lip and sepals.