''Dendrobium macrostachyum'', commonly known as the fringed tree orchid, is a species of

epiphytic An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...

orchid with long, narrow pseudobulbs that lose their leaves as they mature, and up to three whitish to lime green flowers with a hairy labellum. It is

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, tropical Asia and eastern Malesia.

Description

''Dendrobium macrostachyum'' is an epiphytic

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

with thin, almost wiry, slightly zig-zagged, green to yellowish pseudobulbs that are long and wide. The leaves are lance-shaped to egg-shaped, long and wide and are shed by the time the pseudobulb is about one year old. Up to three whitish to lime green flowers long, wide are borne on a thread-like flowering stem long. The sepals and

petal Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...

s are long and about wide. The labellum is about long, wide and more or less tube-shaped near its base. The edges of the labellum are hairy and there are three hairy ridges along its midline. Flowering occurs from December to March in Australia and in January and February in the

northern hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the Equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined as being in the same celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the solar system as Earth's Nort ...

Taxonomy and naming

''Dendrobium macrostachyum'' was first formally described in 1830 by

John Lindley John Lindley FRS (5 February 1799 – 1 November 1865) was an English botanist, gardener and orchidologist. Early years Born in Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four children of George and Mary Lindley. George Lindley w ...

who published the description in his book, ''The Genera and Species of Orchidaceous Plants'' from a specimen collected in Myanmar. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

(''macrostachyum'') is derived from the Ancient Greek words ''makros'' meaning "long" and ''stachys'' meaning "an ear of grain" or "a spike".

Distribution and habitat

The fringed tree orchid grows in lowland rainforest and occurs in India,

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, from the Himalayas to eastern Malesia and on the Cape York Peninsula as far south as the

McIlwraith Range The McIlwraith Range is a rugged, dissected granite plateau on Cape York Peninsula of Far North Queensland, Australia. Part of the Great Dividing Range, the McIlwraith Range covers about and lies about east of the town of Coen, and north ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17270448 macrostachyum Orchids of Australia Orchids of New Guinea Plants described in 1830