Erect pencil orchid facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Erect pencil orchid |
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| Illustration by Lewis Roberts | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Dendrobium
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| Species: |
racemosum
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The erect pencil orchid (also known as Dendrobium racemosum) is a special type of orchid. It only grows in tropical North Queensland, Australia. This orchid is unique because it can grow on other plants (like trees) or on rocks. It has yellowish stems and dark green leaves that look like pencils. When it blooms, it has 8 to 15 cream or pale yellow flowers. Each flower has a special lip (called a labellum) with a tiny thread-like tip. You can find it on trees and rocks in open, high-up places. It also grows high up in rainforest trees in lower areas.
What it Looks Like
The erect pencil orchid is a plant that grows on trees or rocks. Its yellowish stems can be from 0.2 to 1 meter (about 0.6 to 3.3 feet) long. They are about 4 to 6 millimeters (0.16 to 0.24 inches) wide and don't have many branches.
Its leaves are dark green and shaped like cylinders. They are 80 to 200 millimeters (about 3 to 8 inches) long and 8 to 12 millimeters (0.3 to 0.5 inches) wide. Each leaf has a shallow groove along its length.
The flowers grow on a stem that comes out from the base of a single leaf. This flowering stem is 40 to 80 millimeters (about 1.6 to 3.1 inches) long. It holds between eight and fifteen cream-colored to pale yellow flowers.
Each flower is 18 to 22 millimeters (about 0.7 to 0.9 inches) long and 20 to 25 millimeters (about 0.8 to 1 inch) wide. As the flowers get older, their sepals and petals curve outwards. The sepals are 20 to 25 millimeters long and about 2 millimeters wide. The petals are similar in length but only half as wide.
The labellum (the special lip of the orchid flower) is about 20 millimeters (0.8 inches) long and 6 millimeters (0.2 inches) wide. It has small side parts and a long, pointed middle part with wavy edges. This orchid usually flowers from September to October.
How it Got its Name
The erect pencil orchid was first officially described in 1936. A scientist named William Henry Nicholls gave it the name Dendrobium beckleri var. racemosum. He wrote about it in a publication called The North Queensland Naturalist.
Later, in 1964, two other scientists, Stephen Clemesha and Alick Dockrill, decided that this plant was important enough to be its own species. So, they changed its name to Dendrobium racemosum. The second part of its scientific name, racemosum, is a Latin word. It means "full of clusters," which describes how its flowers grow together.
Where it Lives
You can find Dendrobium racemosum growing on trees and rocks in open areas. It lives on the Atherton and Evelyn Tablelands in Queensland, Australia. Here, it grows at high altitudes, between 800 and 1500 meters (about 2,600 to 4,900 feet) above sea level. It also grows at lower altitudes between the Russell and Johnstone Rivers. In these lower areas, it often grows near the very tops of tall rainforest trees.
