Dendrobium teretifolium var.aureum

This Australian Dendrobium is one of our more unusual species that grows as long terete leaves along dangling pendulous stems. Lovely yellow and red flowers are bourn in profusion in early spring. The yellow flowers are beautifully marked with red stripes and the lip has a white ruffled edge. 

The species is found in New South Wales and Queensland where it grows on trees and rocks generally in wetland areas and near rivers from 800 to 1200m. Plant experience wet summers and much dryer cooler winter.

In cultivation we grow the species mounted to accomodate its pendulous habit and we have found plants to be very long lived and slow growing, taking several years to develop their long pendulous stems. We hang the mounts high in our cloud forests greenhouse (although their natural habitat is much dryer than a cloud forest) and this allows plants to dry out well between waterings. In winter we reduce watering to the odd spray each week and look forward to the gorgeous flowers.

Dendrobium teretifolium var. aureum is an accepted variety of the more widespread Dendrobium teretifolium that has white or cream flowers without the marked red striping and are generally found at lower elevations often near the coast.