Dendrobium tangerinum P.J.Cribb 1980

I saw this orchid at the 2016 Puerto Rico Orchid Society show.  I am a fan of the "antilope" Dendrobium of the Sphatulata, formely Ceratobium section of the Dendrobium genus.  But they also drive me mad with their endless variations, forms and varieties.  If you add to this mixture the hybrids which are sometimes mislabeled as species, you got a recipe for confusion when trying to determine the identification of a plant.  However I am fairly sure this is Den. tangerinum.  These are large and showy plants, however few people locally seem to have mastered their culture well enough as to be able to grow the large specimen plants the members of this section can produce.  The potential of these plants is well illustrated by the grand champion of the 2016 Puerto Rico Orchid society show which was a large Den. gouldii with massive inflorescences and an impressive quantity of flowers.

Dendrobium MacPerson, the first of my plants to have flowers in 2015

Dendrobium Alex MacPherson is the hybrid of Dendrobium Salak and Dendrobium helix.  Den. Salak is a hybrid of Den. stratiotes and Den. discolor.   In this particular plant the strength of the heritage of the Den. helix parent can be noted in the color of the flower.  The flowers of this hybrid resemble mainly the flowers of the Den. helix parent, although they are smaller and more numerous in the inflorescence than the flowers of my plant of Den. helix.

In this particular plant the flowers are crowded in the inflorescence which makes it difficult to take good photos of individual flowers.  I cut some flowers from the inflorescence so I could show the variation on petal orientation between different flowers.  There is also some very slight variation of color between individual flowers.

A few years back I brought a number of plants of this species because they were labeled Den. helix.  As they bloom during the year I document the differences between the different clones.  In this one the pink is confined to the sepals while the petals are orange.  Some flowers show a bit of orange color on the sepals.  

Dendrobium Fulum, an "antilope" Dendrobium hybrid

I photographed this plant in the garden of Edna Hamilton of St. Croix.  The plant is remarkable, not only for the beauty of its flowers but also for its floriferousness, the two inflorescences come from a single cane.  I plan to acquire one of this orchid.  Hopefully I will as successful as Edna in getting this plant to produce lots of flowers.

Dendrobium (Betty Goto x Blue Wonder)

Photographed at the 2014 Ponce orchid society show, Ponce, Puerto Rico.