Soft cane Dendrobium, end of growing season flowers

Dendrobium Bohemian Rhapsody, end of growing season flower

Dendrobium Bohemian Rhapsody, normal flower

Dendrobium anosmum, dark colored variant

Dendrobium anosmum var. huttoni

When the growing season ends for soft cane Dendrobium, the canes stop growing and produce a terminal leaf that is smaller than previous leaves.  But sometimes, instead of a terminal leaf, the plant produces one or more flower buds.  I have seen this happen in Den. anosmum. Den. pieradii, Den. loddigessii and Den. Bohemian Rhapsody.  These end of season flowers can be larger, differently shaped and brighter colored than flowers produced during the normal blooming season.  I don't know why this happens.  Some people, particularly those that have plants that have never bloomed, can take these flowers as a normal blooming event, but it isn't.  The flowers can sometimes be significantly different from typically shaped flowers, with a prominent raised area in the middle of the lip and pointy sepals. This variation can cause confusion as to the identity of the plant, on the part of growers whose plants otherwise have never produced flowers.  At times the flowers can be deformed or crowded in a bunch at the tip of the cane.  I don't find the appareance of these flowers a cause of concern as those of my plants that produce these flowers from time to time, bloom well when their blooming season comes around.