Fragrant tea tree orchid facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Fragrant tea tree orchid |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Dendrobium
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| Species: |
trilamellatum
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The Fragrant Tea Tree Orchid (Dendrobium trilamellatum) is a beautiful type of orchid. It's an epiphytic plant, which means it grows on other plants, like trees, but doesn't take nutrients from them. You can find this special orchid in northern Australia and New Guinea. It's also known as the Large Tea Tree Orchid.
This orchid has interesting spindle-shaped stems, between three and seven tough, dark green leaves, and usually three to fifteen flowers. These flowers can be yellow, yellowish-brown, or brown. They also have a lovely mauve to purple labellum, which is the orchid's special lip-like petal.
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What Does It Look Like?
The Fragrant Tea Tree Orchid is a herb that grows on trees. It has green, spindle-shaped stems called pseudobulbs. These stems can be about 300 to 600 mm (12 to 24 in) long and 15 to 25 mm (0.6 to 1 in) wide.
Each orchid has between three and seven tough, dark green leaves. These leaves are shaped like a spear and are about 100 to 250 mm (4 to 10 in) long and 10 to 15 mm (0.4 to 0.6 in) wide.
The orchid produces a flowering stem that is about 300 to 500 mm (12 to 20 in) long. On this stem, you'll find between three and fifteen flowers that smell very pleasant. The flowers are yellow, yellowish-brown, or brown, often with darker stripes. They are about 20 to 55 mm (0.8 to 2.2 in) long and 25 to 60 mm (1 to 2.4 in) wide.
The sepals and petals of the flower are thick, shiny, and strongly twisted. The sepals are about 20 to 30 mm (0.8 to 1.2 in) long. The top sepal is about 4 to 7 mm (0.16 to 0.28 in) wide, and the side sepals are about 7 to 9 mm (0.28 to 0.35 in) wide. The petals are similar in length to the sepals but are only about half as wide.
The labellum (the orchid's "lip") is mauve to purple with a cream or yellow center. It's about 10 to 22 mm (0.4 to 0.9 in) long and 7 to 14 mm (0.28 to 0.55 in) wide. This labellum has three parts, called lobes. The side lobes stand upright, and the middle lobe is shaped like an arrowhead, curving with three ridges down its middle. These orchids usually bloom from July to November.
The Fragrant Tea Tree Orchid is sometimes confused with another orchid called D. johannis. However, it's easy to tell them apart when they are flowering. D. trilamellatum blooms in spring and has a lovely smell. D. johannis flowers in autumn and has a less pleasant scent.
How Did It Get Its Name?
The Fragrant Tea Tree Orchid, Dendrobium trilamellatum, was first officially described in 1908. A scientist named Johannes Jacobus Smith wrote about it in a publication called Nova Guinea. Smith mentioned that this orchid was closely related to D. johannis.
Later, in 2002, two other botanists, Mark Clements and David Jones, tried to place this orchid into a different group called Cepobaculum. They called it C. trilamellatum. They also changed another related orchid, Dendrobium johannis var. semifuscum, into its own species, Cepobaculum semifuscum.
However, most scientists don't agree with splitting the Dendrobium group into many smaller ones. So, both C. trilamellatum and C. semifuscum are now considered to be the same as D. trilamellatum. This means they are all just different names for the same orchid.
Where Does It Live?
The Fragrant Tea Tree Orchid likes to grow on paperbark and other trees with rough bark. It mostly lives in open forests and woodlands. You can find it in Cape York Peninsula in Australia, from the Iron Range to Cooktown and the McIlwraith Range. It also grows on some Torres Strait Islands and along the coast of New Guinea.
Growing This Orchid
If you want to grow the Fragrant Tea Tree Orchid, it needs a lot of light. It grows well when attached to a piece of wood or bark, called a slab. During winter, it needs to be kept dry. But in the summer, it needs to be watered often.
Gallery
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Seed pods and flowers
