__NOTOC__ ''Dendrochilum'' (commonly abbreviated ''Ddc.'' in

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

) is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

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 ...

lithophytic Lithophytes are plants that grow in or on rocks. They can be classified as either epilithic (or epipetric) or endolithic; epilithic lithophytes grow on the surfaces of rocks, while endolithic lithophytes grow in the crevices of rocks (and are als ...

and a few terrestrial

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s in the

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

(Orchidaceae). The name of this genus is derived from

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

words ("tree"), and either ("lip")Schubert, R., & Wagner, G. (1988). ''Botanisches Wörterbuch'' (9th edition). Stuttgart: Gustav Fischer. or ("green food"), alluding to either the flowers' large lip or to their epiphytic growth. These orchids are popular among fans of non-traditional orchid curiosities.

Distribution and description

They are distributed at higher elevations in the humid

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...

s throughout the

Malesia Malesia is a biogeographical region straddling the Equator and the boundaries of the Indomalayan and Australasian realms, and also a phytogeographical floristic region in the Paleotropical Kingdom. It has been given different definitions. The ...

n region, with some in the surrounding lands; thus they occur from

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

. But most species are found on

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

or the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> This genus produces miniature, fragrant, star-shaped

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s that are generally produced in two rows on erect or arching pendant, many-flowered

raceme A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...

s. These

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

s can grow to a length of (e.g. in the

Hay-scented Orchid ''Dendrochilum glumaceum'', the hay-scented orchid or husk-like dendrochilum, was described by John Lindley in 1841. It is an elegant looking epiphytic or lithophytic dendrochilum that occurs in the Philippines and Borneo at altitudes between 7 ...

, ''D. glumaceum''). The stems are ovoid to cylindrical, striped, sharply reduced pseudobulbs, about long, with green to brown

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of ...

s at their base. Each carries one or two tough, erect and lanceolate

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

, usually about long, with narrow petioles. The elliptical leaves of the

Long-leaved Dendrochilum ''Dendrochilum longifolium'' is a species of orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteracea ...

('' D. longifolium'') may grow to a length of .

Taxonomy

The precise number of species is disputed; many websites accept as few as 100 or so, while others recognize far more. The World Checklist of Monocotyledons for example lists 390 records, including names that have become

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

s. Numerous new taxa have become known in recent decades;e.g. Pedersen (1997), Wood (1997) in the ''Dendrochilum'' species list on Wikipedia, a more split-up approach is followed pending more up-to-date information. For it seems that the very low species numbers are certainly gross overlumping, and while the very high numbers sometimes presented are probably a result of oversplitting, they are likely to be closer to the truth. Many of these orchids (67 species in the list used here) were named by Johannes Jacobus Smith, an eminent Dutch botanist. The genus'

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

, described by

Carl Ludwig Blume Charles Ludwig de Blume or Karl Ludwig von Blume (9 June 1796, Braunschweig – 3 February 1862, Leiden) was a German-Dutch botanist. He was born at Braunschweig in Germany, but studied at Leiden University and spent his professional life wor ...

in 1825, is ''

Dendrochilum aurantiacum __NOTOC__ ''Dendrochilum'' (commonly abbreviated ''Ddc.'' in horticulture) is a genus of epiphytic, lithophytic and a few terrestrial flowering plants in the orchid family (Orchidaceae). The name of this genus is derived from Ancient Greek words ...

'' of

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

and

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

. Several species were formerly separated in ''Acoridium'' (established by

Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck (14 February 1776 – 16 March 1858) was a prolific German botanist, physician, zoologist, and natural philosopher. He was a contemporary of Goethe and was born within the lifetime of Linnaeus. He de ...

and

Franz Julius Ferdinand Meyen Franz Julius Ferdinand Meyen (28 June 1804 – 2 September 1840) was a Prussian physician and botanist. Meyen was born in Tilsit, East Prussia. In 1830 he wrote ''Phytotomie'', the first major study of plant anatomy. Between 1830 and 1832, he too ...

in 1843) or ''Platyclinis'' (established by George Bentham in 1881), but these two taxa are nowadays regarded as

s of ''Dendrochilum''.

Selected species

* '' Dendrochilum anfractum'' * ''

'' * '' Dendrochilum cobbianum'' * ''

Dendrochilum cootesii ''Dendrochilium cootesii'' is an orchid species found only in the Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filip ...

'' * '' Dendrochilum glumaceum'' * '' Dendrochilum ignisiflorum'' * ''

Dendrochilum javieriense ''Dendrochilum javieriense'' is a species of orchid, commonly known as Javier's dendrochilum. It is endemic to the island of Luzon in the Philippines. References

Dendrochilum, javieriense Orchids of the Philippines Plants described in ...

'' * '' Dendrochilum longifolium'' * '' Dendrochilum magnum''

Footnotes

References

* (1995): The genus ''Dendrochilum. In: Orchids Australia''. * (2004): The genus ''Dendrochilum''. ''In:'' : ''Genera Orchidacearum'' (Vol. 3). Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. * (2002): ''Dendrochilum: elegance in miniature''. ''Orchid Review'' 110(1246): 212-217. * (1997): The genus ''Dendrochilum'' (Orchidaceae) in the Philippines – a taxonomic revision. ''Opera Botanica'' 131: 5-205. * (1997): ''Orchids of Borneo'' (Vol.3: ''Dendrobium, Dendrochilum'' and others). Sabah Society, Kota Kinabalu and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q2720025 Arethuseae genera Epiphytic orchids