''Dendrobium nativitatis'', commonly known as the Christmas Island crimp 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 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 ...

that is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to Christmas Island, an

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 ...

n territory in the north-eastern

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

. It has long, straggly stems, flattened pseudobulbs, a single leathery leaf and a single pale yellow flower.

Description

''Dendrobium nativitatis'' 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 straggly, sometimes branching, aerial stems long. The pseudobulbs are smooth, flattened, pale green, long and wide. There is a single leathery, narrow elliptic leaf long and wide on the end of the pseudobulb. A single, pale yellow flower long and wide develops at the base of the leaf. The

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

s are lance-shaped, long and wide and the

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 long, wide and has three lobes. The side lobes surround the

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

and the middle lobe has wavy edges near its base and two wavy ridges along its midline. Flowering occurs sporadically throughout the year and the capsule that follows is elliptical and about long.

Taxonomy and naming

''Dendrobium nativitatis'' was first formally described in 1907 by Henry Nicholas Ridley and the description was published in ''Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society''. Ridley had originally described the species in 1906 and given it the name ''Dendrobium pectinatum'', unaware that name had already been used for a different kind of orchid. 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 ...

(''nativitatis'') is derived from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word ''natus'' meaning "birth", implying the nativity of Christ, or Christmas, referring to the

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * Ty ...

locality.

Distribution and habitat

The Christmas Island crimp orchid is common in

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 ...

on the plateau and the high terraces of the island, where it favours '' Planchonella'' and '' Eugenia'' species as the host trees. It is only known from Christmas Island.

Relationships

This orchid is closely related to '' Dendrobium aureilobum'' from

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 ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17270432 nativitatis Endemic flora of Christmas Island Endemic orchids of Australia Plants described in 1907 Taxa named by Henry Nicholas Ridley