Dendrobium Mentor is a
very old cross which was registered in 1893 by Veitch. Originally it was described as a cross between
Dendrobium anosmum and Dendrobium primulinum.
The plant I have is from a recent crossing. Both species are highly variable with many
varieties. What used to be known as
Dendrobium primulinum was lumped in the species concept of Dendrobium
polyanthum, together with Dendrobium cretaceum (which was sometimes called
Dendrobium primulinum var. alba) and other variations. When one looks at Dendrobium primulinum var.
De Leon and Den. Primulinum var. Laos, they hardly look alike, but the key
feature is their huge round lips. Technically
speaking the peduncle of the flower is clavate shaped in primulinum, but this
feature is too obscure for most people.
Dendrobium anosmum has too many forms and varieties to mention but
perhaps only two or three have been scientifically described, var. dearei is
one and var. huttoni is another.
Given
all that variability I was very curious how the flowers would look. The plant grew in a way that is more similar
to the primulinum parent than to the anosmum parent. It produced two canes. One of the canes produced flowers with a lip
that is reminiscent, although much reduced, of the lip of primulinum, the other
cane produced flowers with a shape that favored anosmum. The flowers that resembled primulinum had a
sweet fragrance with a distinct “smokey” note, the flowers that resembled
anosmum barely had any fragrance. The
plant is still young, it is not clear which size it will attain when it is a
full adult in two to three years.
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