Dendrobium cunninghamii


Dendrobium cunninghamii, commonly known as winika, pekapeka, Christmas orchid, bamboo orchid or ladies slipper orchid, is a species of epiphytic orchids that is endemic to New Zealand. It is commonly found growing in rainforest in the North, South, Stewart and Chatham Islands and normally flowers in summer and early autumn.

Description

Dendrobium cunninghamii is an epiphytic or lithophytic orchid herb that forms tufts up wide with wiry, cane-like stems up to long and in diameter. The rhizomes are similar to the stems and produce many roots. The leaves are narrow linear, long and about wide. Up to eight flowers wide are borne on a short lateral flowering stem. The petals and sepals are white but some parts of the labellum are rose pink, purplish and green. The labellum has three lobes. The side lobes are erect, relatively small and pink or purple and the middle lobe has four or five greenish or yellowish ridges along its midline. Flowering occurs from December to January.

Taxonomy and naming

Dendrobium cunninghamii was first formally discovered in 1835 by John Lindley and the description was published in Edwards's Botanical Register. The specific epithet honours Allan Cunningham.
David Jones, Mark Clements and Brian Molloy proposed changing the name of this species to Winika cunninghamii but the change has not been accepted by Plants of the World Online.

Distribution and habitat

Winika is usually an epiphyte on forest trees but sometimes also on fallen logs. It sometimes grows on rocks and cliff faces, even on brick or concrete walls. It is found on both the North and South Islands of New Zealand but also on the Stewart and Chatham Islands.

Cultural references

In 1990, New Zealand Post released a New Zealand native orchid miniature sheet to support the New Zealand 1990 World Stamp Exhibition held in Auckland. Winika was one of the stamps on the miniature sheet. The others were the sun orchid, spider orchid and greenhood orchid.