Natural hybrid of Dendrobium fleckeri
In the article on Dendrobium fleckeri in the last (December 2017) issue of Orchidophile, we reported that, based on the literature available to us at the time, natural hybrid with Dendrobium adae so far has not been recorded. This is unusual in view of their similar habitats and often found in close vicinity. It was also postulated that most probably the two species would have different pollinators.
Natural hybrid of Dendrobium fleckeri and Dendrobium adae (Photo: Michael Harrison and David Banks)
After publication of the article, Michael Harrison and David Banks kindly alerted us of a report in Australia Orchid Review (2014) on their discovery of a natural hybrid of Dendrobium fleckeri and Dendrobium adae in 2013 on the Mount Carbine Tableland, part of the Main Coast Range, a highland area where Dendrobium fleckeri and Dendrobium adae grow together at around 1200 metres. They have kindly provided us with a photograph of the flowers of the natural hybrid that they found. On examination, the flowers were more or less intermediate between the two presumed parent species. The lip shape tended more to Dendrobium adae, but the overall floral shape looked more like Dendrobium fleckeri. The fine white hairs along the mid-lobe margins of the labella which are characteristic of Dendrobium fleckeri were absent. The colour of the flowers was a soft, creamy bronze/orange. The plant was in bloom in November when they visited the area. Nearby were numerous flowering plants of Dendrobium fleckeri, but the Dendrobium adae had long since finished.
Whilst Dendrobium fleckeri and Dendrobium adae are certainly sympatric species above around 1000 metres, their flowering times do not coincide. Dendrobium adae flowers in August-September, and Dendrobium fleckeri in October-November.
Michael and David postulated that an out of season flowering of one of the parent species had been responsible for this natural hybrid. Existence of such a hybrid suggests that the pollinators for both Dendrobium fleckeri and are perhaps the same.
