Geodorum densiflorum (Lam.) Schltr. 1919 Photo courtesy of Wolfgang H. Bandisch. Photo by Ly. Th. Westra Orchids Asia Website
Another Flower Color Photo courtesy of Wolfgang H. Bandisch. Photo by Peter O'Byrne Copyright © 1998, 1999 All rights reserved. And his Papua & New Guinea Orchid Species site




Common Name The Densely Flowered Geodorum - In Japan - Tosaka-meoto-ran - In China Di Bao Lan
Flower Size 3/8" [1 cm]
A medium to small, hot growing terrestrial orchid found from the Chinease Himalayas, Assam, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Andaman Islands, Myanamar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Borneo, Java, Sumatra, Malaysia, Lesser Sunda Islands, Moluccas, Sulawesi, Philippines, Bismark Islands, New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Queensland Australia, Western Australia, Fiji, Niue, New Caledonia, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu, Caroline Islands, Marianas Islands and Taiwan in moist grasslands, sandy areas behind beaches and rainforests as well as in semi-deciduous and deciduous dry lowland forests and savana-like woodlands at elevations of sealevel to 1800 meters as a medium sized, hot to warm growing terrestrial with underground, spherical pseudobulbs carrying, 2 to 5, thin-textured, lanceolate to oblong-elliptic, plicate, petiolate leaves that blooms in the fall and spring with an erect, basal, 4 to 10" [10 to 25 cm] at the outset and extending to 12 to 16" [30 to 40 cm], many [10 to 25] flowered inflorescence with a short rachis and the waxy, non-spreading flowers crowded at the apex that always has a "U" shape to it, with the flowers clustered on the downward side until fertilization ocurs which causes it to straighten out, as it continues to arise with a new growth.
In the Moluccas this species leaves are pouneded to allieviate running sores.
Synonyms Arethusa glutinosa Blanco 1837; Cistella cernua (Willd.) Blume 1825 ; Cymbidium pictum R. Br. 1810; Dendrobium haenkeanum Steud. 1840; Dendrobium nutans C.Presl. 1831; Geodorum dilatatum R.Br. 1813; Geodorum formosanum Rolfe ex Hemsl. 1895; Geodorum fucatum Lindl 1834; Geodorum neocaledonicum Kraenzl. 1929; Geodorum nutans Ames 1908; Geodorum pacificum Rolfe 1908; Geodorum pictum (R. Br.) Lindl. 1833; Geodorum purpureum Sensu Ridl. 1907; Geodorum rariflorum Lindl. 1855; Geodorum semicristatum Lindl. 1855; Geodorum tricarinatum Schltr. 1911; *Limodorum densiflorum Lam. 1783; Malaxis cernua Willd. 1805; Ortmannia cernua (Willd.) Opiz 1834; Otandra cernua (Willd.) Salisb. 1812; Tropidia grandis Hance 1873
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Bonplandia Rchb.f 1857 as G dilitatum; Orchids of Burma Grant 1895/1995 as G dilatatum; Die Orchideen Von Java J.J.Sm. 1905 as G purpureum; Die Orchideen Von Java Figuren Atlas J.J.Sm. 1908 as G purpureum drawing fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 27 No 4 1958 drawing as G purpureum; AOS Bulletin Vol 28 No 4 1959 as G nutans; The Orchids of Thailand Seidenfaden & Smitinand 1959 as G purpureum drawing, photo; AOS Bulletin Vol 35 No 4 1966 as G pictum; Orchids of Southern Ryukyu Islands Garay & Sweet 1974 drawing; AOS Bulletin Vol 47 No 6 1978 as G nutans; The Orchids of Papua New Guinea An Introduction Millar 1978 photo fide; Orchidiana Philippiana Vol 1 Valmayor 1984; The Orchidaceae of German New Guinea Schlechter 1985 as Geodorum pictum (R. Br.) Lindl. 1833; Orchids of Vanuatu Lewis & Cribb 1989; Orchids of Java Comber 1990; The Orchids of the Solomon Islands and Bougainville Lewis & Cribb 1991; The Orchids of Penninsular Malaysia and Singapore Seidenfaden & Wood 1992 drawing ok; The Plants of Mount Kinabalu Vol 2 Orchids Beaman, Wood, Beaman & Beaman 1993; A Checklist of the Orchids of Borneo Wood & Cribb 1994; Native Orchids of New Caledonia Societe' Neo-Caledonienne D' Orchidophile 1995 as G pictum; The Orchids of Samoa Cribb & Whistler 1996; Native Orchids of China in Colour Singchi, Zhanhuo and Yibo 1999 photo fide; Orchids of Sumatra Comber 2001; Orchid Flora Of Kamrup District Assam Iswar Chandra Barua 2001 drawing ok; Orchids of Bhutan Pearce & Cribb 2002; Lindleyana Vol 17 No 1 2002; Flora Malesiana Orchids of the Philippines Vol I Agoo, Shuiteman and de Vogel 2003; Flora Malesiana Orchids of New Guinea Vol III Shuiteman and de Vogel 2006; Orchids of India A Glimpse Misra 2007 drawing ok/photo fide; 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; The Orchids of Mount Kinabalu Vol 2 Wood, Beaman, Lamb, Chu Lun and Beaman 2011 photo fide
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