Dendrobium atroviolaceum
Black blood-red dendrobium
Family Orchidaceae
About
A compact epiphytic orchid from islands off eastern New Guinea, with long-lasting, fragrant cream flowers spotted purple. It has been widely used in orchid hybridising.
Care at a glance
- Pet safety
- Not recorded. We have no source on whether this plant is safe for cats, dogs or other pets — that is not the same as safe. Keep it out of reach until you have checked.
- People
- Not recorded.
- Light
- Filtered sunlight.
- Humidity
- Warm, humid conditions.
- Temperature
- Warm days; tolerates nights down to about 5 °C (41 °F) if daytime stays warm.
Field notes
Morphology
Upright, with furrowed pseudobulbs 10–30 cm long, swollen above and tapering to the base, topped by up to six stiff dark green leaves. Erect racemes to 20 cm carry up to twenty nodding, fragrant flowers 4–6 cm across; cream petals and sepals are dotted purple and the fleshy lip is green outside with violet stripes inside.
Distribution & habitat
The D'Entrecasteaux Islands and Louisiade Archipelago of Papua New Guinea, on rainforest trees at 200–800 m.
Cultivation notes
Needs warm, humid conditions and filtered sun. It can flower at any time but usually from autumn to spring, and blooms may last three months or more. Used extensively in hybrid breeding.
History & etymology
Described by Robert Allen Rolfe in 1890 from a specimen collected for James Veitch & Sons.
Conservation
Listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because it is known from few locations and its habitat is being degraded.
Habitat
- Altitude
- Not recorded
- Altitude class
- —
- Native to
- Papua New Guinea
- IUCN status
- Vulnerable
Cultivation
- Difficulty
- Not recorded
- Temperature
- Warm days; tolerates nights down to about 5 °C (41 °F) if daytime stays warm.
- Humidity
- Warm, humid conditions.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Crossed D. atroviolaceum with another species?Register the cross. If it's not documented yet you'll be the first contributor; if someone already registered it, you'll be taken there to add your photo.