Scientific Name
Dendrobium loddigesii Rolfe
Synonym(s)
Callista loddigesii, Dendrobium loddigesii var. album, Dendrobium pulchellum
Common Name(s)
Loddiges' Dendrobium
Scientific Classification
Family: Orchidaceae
Subfamily: Epidendroideae
Tribe: Dendrobieae
Genus: Dendrobium
Origin
Dendrobium loddigesii is native to Laos, Vietnam, and China.
Flower
Color: White, pink, and purple
Bloom Time: Winter and spring
Description
Dendrobium loddigesii is a small, warm- to cold-growing epiphyte, lithophyte, or terrestrial orchid with tufted, pendant, and suberect, striated, multi-noded, white-sheathed stems bearing alternate, fleshy, oblong, acute leaves. The fragrant, long-lasting flowers appear from winter to spring on short, up to 3-inch [7.5 cm] single-flowered inflorescences that arise from the nodes of leafless canes.
Flowers are up to 2 inches (5 cm) across. The petals are lilac, the sepals are purple, and the lips are reddish-orange.
How to Grow and Care for Dendrobium loddigesii
Hardiness: USDA hardiness zones 11a to 12b: from 40°F (4.4°C) to 60°F (15.6°C).
Although there is a huge variety to choose from, they all follow two important rules for growing Dendrobium orchids.
First, they like to live in little pots with their roots crowded into a tiny area. If you try to be nice and give them room to spread out, the roots are likely to stay too moist and begin to rot. If you don't like the look of a large plant growing in a ridiculously small pot, camouflage it in a larger planter.
The other way to care for Dendrobium orchids is to give them as much bright light as possible. This doesn't mean sticking them in desert sunlight, but a south-facing window in the house is where they will thrive. In almost all cases, when your Dendrobium orchid isn't flowering, it's not getting enough sunlight.
See more at How to Grow and Care for Dendrobium Orchids.
Links
- Back to genus Dendrobium
- Plantpedia: Browse flowering plants by Scientific Name, Common Name, Genus, Family, USDA Hardiness Zone, or Origin
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