Dendrobium macrostachyum
{{short description|Species of plant}}
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2024}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Fringed tree orchid
| image = Dendrobium gamblei 002 GotBot 2017.jpg
| image_caption = Dendrobium macrostachyum in the Gothenburg Botanical Garden
| display_parents = 3
| status_system =
| status =
| genus = Dendrobium
| species = macrostachyum
| authority = Lindl.{{WCSP |58320 |Dendrobium macrostachyum}}
| synonyms =
- Callista macrostachya (Lindl.) Kuntze
- Dendrobium tetrodon Rchb.f. ex Lindl.
- Dendrobium stuartii F.M.Bailey
- Callista stuartii (F.M.Bailey) Kuntze
- Callista tetrodon (Rchb.f. ex Lindl.) Kuntze
- Dendrobium gamblei King & Pantl.
- Dendrobium viridicatum Ridl.
- Dendrobium tetrodon var. vanvuurenii J.J.Sm.
- Dendrobium whiteanum T.E.Hunt
}}
Dendrobium macrostachyum, commonly known as the fringed tree orchid,{{cite book|last1=Jones|first1=David L.|title=A complete guide to native orchids of Australia including the island territories|date=2006|publisher=New Holland|location=Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.|isbn=1877069124|page =386}} is a species of epiphytic 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 to Australia, tropical Asia and eastern Malesia.
Description
Dendrobium macrostachyum is an epiphytic herb with thin, almost wiry, slightly zig-zagged, green to yellowish pseudobulbs that are {{convert|100-600|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|4-5|mm|in|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} wide. The leaves are lance-shaped to egg-shaped, {{convert|50-80|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|20-25|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} wide and are shed by the time the pseudobulb is about one year old. Up to three whitish to lime green flowers {{convert|12-15|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long, {{convert|15-20|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} wide are borne on a thread-like flowering stem {{convert|15-25|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long. The sepals and petals are {{convert|12-15|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long and about {{convert|4|mm|in|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} wide. The labellum is about {{convert|18|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long, {{convert|12|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} 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.{{cite web |author1=D.L.Jones |author2=T.Hopley |author3=S.M.Duffy |author1-link=David L. Jones (botanist) |year=2010 |access-date=31 May 2021 |url=http://www.canbr.gov.au/cpbr/cd-keys/RFKOrchids/key/rfkorchids/Media/Html/Dendrobium_stuartii.htm |title=Factsheet - Dendrobium stuartii |website=Australian Tropical Rainforest Orchids |publisher=Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research (CANBR), Australian Government}}{{cite journal |last1=Kurzweil |first1=Hubert |last2=Lwin |first2=Saw |title=New orchid records for Myanmar, including the first record of the genus Stereosandra |journal=Gardens' Bulletin Singapore |date=2015 |volume=67 |issue=1 |pages=108–111 |doi=10.3850/S2382581215000125 |url=https://www.nparks.gov.sg/sbg/research/publications/gardens-bulletin-singapore/-/media/sbg/gardens-bulletin/gbs_67_01_y2015_v67_01/4-4-67-1-107-y2015-v67p1-gbs-pg107.pdf |accessdate=1 December 2018}}
Taxonomy and naming
Dendrobium macrostachyum was first formally described in 1830 by John Lindley who published the description in his book, The Genera and Species of Orchidaceous Plants from a specimen collected in Myanmar.{{cite web|title=Dendrobium macrostachyum|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/581226|publisher=APNI|accessdate=1 December 2018}}{{cite book |last1=Lindley |first1=John |title=The genera and species of Orchidaceous plants |date=1830 |publisher=Ridgways |location=Piccadilly |page=78 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/9889#page/93/mode/1up |accessdate=1 December 2018}} The specific epithet (macrostachyum) is derived from the Ancient Greek words makros meaning "long"{{cite book|last1=Brown|first1=Roland Wilbur|title=The Composition of Scientific Words|date=1956|publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press|location=Washington, D.C.}}{{rp|461}} and stachys meaning "an ear of grain" or "a spike".{{rp|746}}
Distribution and habitat
The fringed tree orchid grows in lowland rainforest and occurs in India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, from the Himalayas to eastern Malesia and on the Cape York Peninsula as far south as the McIlwraith Range.{{cite web |title=Fringed tree dendrobium |url=https://www.flowersofindia.net/catalog/slides/Fringed%20Tree%20Dendrobium.html |publisher=Flowers of India |accessdate=1 December 2018}}