Dendrobium cancroides T.E.Hunt 1947 SECTION Grastidium Photo By © Ken Blackburn and The Orchi Files
Drawing Drawing By © Lewis T Roberts
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to EARLY
Common Name The Crayfish-Like Dendrobium [refers to the flowers shape] - In Australia The Crab Orchid
Flower Size 1.2 to 1.6" [3 to 4 cm]
Found in Queensland Australia at elevations below 500 meters in humid shady locations in rainforests in mountain gorges or in open forests on trees overhanging streams as a miniature to medium sized, hot to warm growing epiphyte with slender, woody, pendulous, slightly flattened, leafy in the apical half stems carrying 10 to 20, 2 ranked, shiny, oval, thin, often wavy, dark green, deciduous leaves with a brown, rough, sandpaper-like leaf bearing sheath that blooms in the later spring and early summer on an extremely short, 2 flowered inflorescence arising from the nodes opposite the leaves anywhere along the stem and carrying fragrant flowers that face each other and only last a few hours to a day.
Synonyms Grastidium cancroides (T.E.Hunt) Rauschert 1983
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; AOS Bulletin Vol 35 No 4 1966; The Orchids of Papua New Guinea An Introduction Millar 1978 photos fide; Dendrobium Orchids of Australia Upton 1989 drawing/photo fide; Orchid Species Culture; Dendrobium Bakers 1996; Orchids of Papua New Guinea Millar 1999 photo ok; Dendrobium and their Relatives Lavarack, Harris and Stocker 2000 as Grastidium cancroides photo fide; Native Australian Orchids Jonesw 2006 as Grastidium cancroides photo fide;
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