My first mount!

[whalloper]

I didnt do it, haha but its pretty. Im confused by the name...Im pretty sure its a Dendrobium, but the tag says Den. Phalaenopsis var. compactum 'Harford'. Why is Phal in the name?

[patticake]

That's because that type of Dendrobium has a bloom that resembles a Phalaenopsis, so it's sometimes referred to as the Phalaenopsis type Den. It IS confusing.

[whalloper]

ooooooooooohhhhhhhhhh hahahaha I get it

[lmartiny]

The flowers are pretty. I'd like to see the mount.

[rcb]

walloper - actually it is a species that used to be called Dendrobium phalenopsis v compactum. The actual name now is Dendrobium biggibum v. compactum.

The variety compactum is a smaller growing plant than the normal Den. biggibum.

It looks very good - much better than mine does lol

Phal type Dendrobiums are hybrids that have this species or a species from the same section in their background.

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by whalloper

Why is Phal in the name?

You'll notice that in this name the word "phalaenopsis" is the second name (after dendrobium) whereas with our phals, the name 'Phalaenopsis" comes first and is capitalized. This is because one word is used for completely different names for different plants.

The name "phalaenopsis" is from the Ancient Greek phalaina (moth) and opsis (appearance), and literally means "resembling a moth." So in the case of our much beloved phals, the entire group of plants was given the genus name of Phalaenopsis because the first several that were found were thought to look like large moths.

The person who came up with the name Dendrobium phalaeniopsis aparently thought the flower looked like a moth but it was a Dendrobium so he called it Dendrobium phalaenopsis. Note that this time around, the word "phalaenopsis" is the second name, the species name instead of the first name (the genus).

But alas, this story is now not much more than interesting orchid trivia because as rcb has posted, the current correct name fo this beautiful orchid is no longer Den phalaenopsis but it is Den biggibum.

[0r-kid]

It may only be interesting orchid trivia now, but I appreciate you sharing it because I learned something new.

[LouisW]

Confusing taxonomy aside, it is a GREAT looking plant and nicely presented overall!

[willowbanks]

Hey Whalloper, call 911 quick, there's a naked man looking in your window!!!!
(take a closer look at the photo) lol

I believe the term Phal type Dendrobium should not be used to describe hybrids. The term only applies to the species from Phalaenanthe section Dendrobium as per the AOS culture sheet, Den. affine, Den. bigibbum (phalaenopsis), Den. dicuphum and Den. williamsianum.

There should only be two species left in section Phalaenanthe, Den. dicphum is a syn. for Den. affine and Den. williamsianum has been or will be moved to section Spatulata based on DNA testing at CSIRO Australia.

Once these section Phalaenanthe Dendrobiums are hybridized with section Spatulata Dendrobiums they should be classed as hard cane Dendrobiums. Here in Australia we then break hard cane Dendrobiums down into three flower shapes, not types of orchids.

Why we call them SHAPE not TYPE,

Den. Caroline King, Phalaenanthe shape, contains Spatulata blood.


All of these Dens are Intermediate shape, containing both Phalaenanthe and Spatulata blood. (names are on the photos)


These two are Spatulata (antelope) shape

Den. helix x Den. lineale, a primary hybrid within Spatulata section Dendrobium.


Den. Michael Kearney x Den. lasianthera, antlelope shape but contains Phalaenanthe blood.


Oh, forgot to mention, Phalaenanthe means round in latin and has nothing to do with Phalaenopsis or Den. phalaenopsis the way I keep on hearing it from many Geeks.

Calling them hard cane Den. hybrids stops all of the confusion.

Bill
(Dendrobium hard cane grower and breeder)

[fred]

Originally Posted by lmartiny

The flowers are pretty. I'd like to see the mount.

I would like to ask the same question please

[lmartiny]

[QUOTE=willowbanks;202801]Hey Whalloper, call 911 quick, there's a naked man looking in your window!!!!
(take a closer look at the photo) lol

That is too funny!! I'm still chuckling. I was so focused on the flowers I missed that until I went back and looked.
Um, oh, but nice picts. Great flowers. He He He. Sorry. Funny. A good chuckle is healthy for the soul.

[maiseymoo]

LOL that naked man must like orchids as well!!
Nice colours, love it!

[lmartiny]

Sorry to poke fun Whalloper, but it was kind of funny. Can we see a pict of the mount?

[turtleprincess]

It looks great

[house055]

Wow willow what a great collection

[willowbanks]

Thank you House055.

That's just a couple of photos from the collection, I grow bucket loads of these Dendrobiums.

Bill

[tansyflower]

Walloper, nice mount. I tried to mount my D biggibum var compactum, and it didn't like it. I ended up putting it back in a pot, and it is still recovering.

Bill, Your dens look really good. I have been having trouble with some of my hard canes, specifically getting them to re-establish when I've repotted them. They keep falling out of their pots, and losing new growths/spikes. I tried tying them in but still no luck. My nobile types and my intermediates are going ok.

[willowbanks]

Tansy, did you try and mount your Den. bigibbum with sphag moss???

If your Dens are falling out of their pots it's a potting problem, not the fault of the Dens. Just takes some practice to master the job of staking.

Pot size and weight is very relevant when potting tall Dens, I use concrete roof tiles (broken up), they are a great source of weight and the plants love them.

If you get your potting right (the plant should be very stable even after being freshly re-potted) you shouldn't have the problem of the plants falling out.

Bill