Dendrobium amoenum Wallich ex Lindley 1830 SECTION Dendrobium Photo by © Lourens Grobler

Flower Closeup Photo by © Enrico Henman

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Common Name The Lovely Dendrobium

Flower Size 1 1/2 to 2" [3.75 to 5 cm]

This medium to large sized species is a cool to warm growing epiphyte found at the base of trees where they stay wetter and have less temperature fluctuations even though they are in the western Himalayas,India, Assam, eastern Himalayas, Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim, Bangladesh and Myanamarin tropical valleys and oak forests at elevations of 660 to 2000 meters with slender pendulous stems with thicken nodes carrying many, pale green, deciduous, linear to oblong-lanceolate, narrow, wavy leaves that are apically pointed. Blooming occurs in the late spring on a short, axillary, 1 to few flowered, racemose inflorescence emerging from the upper leafless nodes and holding the fragrant [violets], flowers that may or may not open fully. They need a lessening of water and fertilizer in the winter months but not kept dry. They are best mounted to accomodate the pendant growth habit of the canes but ample watering should occur daily in the hottest summer months.

Synonyms Callista amoena (Wall. ex Lindl.) Kuntze 1891; Dendrobium eggertoniae Lindley 1847; Dendrobium mesochlorum Lindley 1847

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Orchids of Burma Grant 1895/1995; The Orchids of Sikkim-Himalaya Part 1 King & Pantling 1898 drawing fide; The Orchids of North-Western Himalaya Vol IX Part II Duthie 1906; AOS Bulletin Vol 33 No 10 1964 drawing; Encyclopedia of Cultivated Orchids Hawkes 1965; AOS Bulletin Vol 47 No 7 1978; AOS Bulletin Vol 54 No 3 1985; Orchids of Kumaun Himalayas Pangtey, Samant and Rawat 1991; Orchid Species Culture, Dendrobium Bakers 1996; Orchids of Bhutan Pearce & Cribb 2002; The Dendrobiums H. P. Wood 2006; Orchids of India A Glimpse Misra 2007 photo fide

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