Dendrobium 'Flattened Canes'

First blooming of unidentified Dendrobium...

A couple of posts ago I wrote about my Dendrobium orchids going into bud, one of which was this small species that hasn't flowered for me before. Well there you go: flowers! Originally labelled as Den. ypsilon, the orchid resembled Den. lamellatum from photos I found online. However on second thought, it looks like neither. It's identification remains a mystery.

The plant has been making dramatically larger new canes since I obtained it more than a year ago and I repotted it July last year because it got too top-heavy for its previous pot. Eight months later today, its tipping to the side again with two canes reaching a foot long.

So for all that growth I think you'll agree that it is a little disappointing that our friend, after shedding half its leaves, churned out a 'Grand Total' of seven flowers that lasted barely a week. I tried to justify this humble reward; good things take time and perhaps this little orchid was just getting warmed up.

No ID is in bloom today!

And so it was! A week after the first flowers faded, many tiny buds appeared on a younger, larger cane. This looks more like it! Ladies and gentlemen we have a 400% improvement amounting to 35 blooms on several leafless canes, thank you very much. Pity, though, that these off-white blooms had no discernible scent. I suppose they try to make up for this with their interestingly flattened canes. One hopes subsequent bloomings will be this profuse.

So the overall verdict? I think this one is charming in an understated kind of way. It's one of those plants that you can tuck away in a corner knowing that while it will never blow you away, it's never going to give you any major problems. This little orchid asks only for a splash of water and a home, and it gets along just fine.