June 2017 Plant of the Evening - Monanthos malbrownii

Monanthos malbrownii

It is a species from tropical far north Queensland. The plant is very well grown and has many small sized, solitary but attractive shiny yellow flowers. The labella are yellow and reddish purple. All the flowers were in good conditions.

Monanthos malbrownii (Photo by Sau-wan Chan)

Plants of the genus Monanthos form grassy clumps with thin leafy stems and produce short single-flowered inflorescences. It was recently reinstated as a separate genus distinct from dendrobiums based on the absence of pseudobulbs and the characteristic inflorescence. There are a few species worldwide, in New Guinea, Solomon Island, Indonesia, Vanuatu and North Caledonia.

They can be grown in a small pot of coarse mix or on a slab. They need warmth, high humidity year round, shade and free air movement. A heated glass house is necessary in cold areas.

Monanthos malbrownii is the only species found in Australia, named after a school teacher Malcolm Brown in Cohen who discovered the plant. While it is only located at the Leo Creek Mine of the McIlwraith Range, it is a locally common, epiphytic, growing on trees, palms, fallen logs and rocks in the rainforest there.

Mike Harrison has had this plant for more than 30 years. It is grown hung up at the roof in a heated glasshouse, with a minimum temperature of 15 deg C in winter. In its natural habitat, flowering period is December to April. Under culture in Sydney, the flowering period may have been prolonged or altered.