Dendrobium crepidatum Lindl. & Paxton 1850 SECTION Dendrobium Photo by © Lourens Grobler
TO 
Common Name The Shoe-Lip Dendrobium [refers to the cavity at the base of the column foot] - In China Mei Gui Shi Hu
Flower Size 1 to 1.8" [2.5 to 4.6 cm]
Found from Hainan China, Assam, Bangladesh, eastern Himalayas, India, Nepal, Sikkim, western Himalayas, Myanamar, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam at elevations of 600 to 2100 meters as a small to medium sized, cool to warm growing epiphyte occuring on tree trunks as a suberect to pendant growing orchid that is best mounted on tree fern or cork. This species has tufted, suberect to pendulous, terete, striated, to 18" [to 45 cm] long, many noded stems each covered with a papery sheath, and carrying 5 to 9, oblong to narrowly lanceolate, acute leavesblooms in the spring on a short, purple inflorescence with the 1 to 4 shiny, waxy, delicately fragrant, longlasting flowers arising from near the apex of year old leafless stems. Drying out of the plant during the winter is nessasary with occasional waterings and no fertilizer until the initiation of new growth in the spring.
Synonyms Callista crepidata (Lindl. & Paxton) Kuntze 1891; Callista lawiana (Lindl.) Kuntze 1891; Dendrobium actinomorphum Blatt. & Halb. 1921; Dendrobium lawanum Lindley 1859; Dendrochilum roseum Dalzell 1852
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;
Orchids of Burma Grant 1895/1995; The Orchids of Sikkim-Himalaya Part 1 King & Pantling 1898 drawing ok; The Orchids of North-Western Himalaya Vol IX Part II Duthie 1906; AOS Bulletin Vol 27 No 3 1958 drawing; The Orchids of Thailand Seidenfaden & Smitinand 1959; AOS Bulletin Vol 33 No 10 1964 drawing; Encyclopedia of Cultivated Orchids Hawkes 1965; Beautiful Thai Orchid Species Kamemoto & Sagarik 1975 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 47 No 7 1978; Orchids of Kumaun Himalayas Pangtey, Samant and Rawat 1991; Orchid Species Culture; Dendrobium Bakers 1996; Wild Orchids of China Tsi, Chen Mori 1997; A Field Guide to the Wild Orchids of Thailand Vaddhanaphuti 2001; Orchids of Bhutan Pearce & Cribb 2002; AOS Bulletin Vol 74 No 5 2005 photo; The Dendrobiums H. P. Wood 2006; Orchids of India A Glimpse Misra 2007; Wild Orchids in Myanamar Vol 3 Tanaka 2007; Orchids of India A Glimpse Misra 2007 drawing ok; A Field Guide to the Orchids of China Singchi, Zhongjian, Yibo, Xiaohua and Zhanhuo 2009 photo fide; Flora of China Vol 25 Zhengyi, Raven & Deyuan 2009; Flora of China Vol 25 Illustrations Zhengyi, Raven & Deyuan 2010 drawing fide; The Wild Orchids in Yunnan Xu Xiang Ye & Liu 2010 photos ok
Dendrobium crepidatum Griff. 1851 var album
An albino version of the previous species.
Dendrobium crepidatum Griff. 1851 var assamicum
An territorial variation of D crepidatum
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