Dendrobium bifalce
Dendrobium bifalce, commonly known as the native bee orchid, is an epiphytic or lithophytic orchid in the family Orchidaceae. It has spindle-shaped pseudobulbs with up to four leathery leaves and up to ten pale green or greenish yellow flowers with purplish markings. It grows on trees and boulders in rainforest in tropical North Queensland, Australia and in New Guinea.
Description
Dendrobium bifalce is an epiphytic or lithophytic orchid with furrowed, spindle-shaped, yellowish or purplish pseudobulbs long and wide. Each pseudobulb has between two and four leathery, egg-shaped leaves long and wide. The flowering stems are long with between five and ten green or greenish yellow flowers with purplish markings. The flowers are long and wide with broad, fleshy sepals and petals. The dorsal sepal is egg-shaped, more or less upright, long and about wide. The lateral sepals are lance-shaped, long, wide and spread widely apart from each other. The petals are lance-shaped, long and about wide. The labellum is about long, wide and has three lobes. The side lobes are sickle-shaped and curve upwards and the middle lobe has a narrowed middle and a warty ridge along its midline. Flowering occurs from April to July.
Taxonomy and naming
Dendrobium bifalce was first formally described in 1843 by John Lindley from a specimen collected in New Guinea by Richard Brinsley Hinds. The specific epithet is a derived from the Latin bi- meaning "two" and falce meaning "sickles".
The native bee orchid grows on boulders and trees in rainforest in New Guinea and in Australia from the Torres Strait Islands to the Daintree National Park.