Dendrobium fellowsii, commonly known as the native damsel orchid,[1] is an epiphytic or lithophytic orchid in the family Orchidaceae and has upright pseudobulbs, up to five leaves and groups of up to five pale green or yellowish flowers with a deep purple labellum. It grows in tropical North Queensland.
Dendrobium fellowsii is an epiphytic or lithophytic herb that has upright, cylindrical dark purplish pseudobulbs NaNsigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 long and NaNsigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 wide.
There are between two and five dark green leaves NaNsigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 long and NaNsigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 wide. The flowering stems are NaNsigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 long and bear between two and seven resupinate, pale green or yellowish flowers NaNsigfig=2NaNsigfig=2 long and NaNsigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 wide. The dorsal sepal is egg-shaped, NaNsigfig=2NaNsigfig=2 long and about 5sigfig=2NaNsigfig=2 wide.
The lateral sepals are triangular, NaNsigfig=2NaNsigfig=2 long, about 5sigfig=2NaNsigfig=2 wide and spread widely apart from each other. The petals are narrow egg-shaped, NaNsigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 long and about 3sigfig=2NaNsigfig=2 wide. The labellum is deep purple, about 10sigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 long and 7sigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 wide with three lobes. The side lobes are relatively large and curve upwards and the middle lobe is broad with two parallel ridges. Flowering occurs from October to January.[2]
Dendrobium fellowsii was first formally described in 1870 by Ferdinand von Mueller from a specimen collected near Rockingham Bay by John Dallachy. The description was published in Fragmenta phytographiae Australiae[3] [4] and the specific epithet (fellowsii) honours Thomas Howard Fellows.
The native damsel orchid grows on trees or shrubs with stringy or flaky bark, in deep gullies or around the edges of large granite sheets in rainforest between the Mount Finnigan in the Cedar Bay National Park and Townsville in Queensland and in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
This orchid is classed as "vulnerable" under the Queensland Government Nature Conservation Act 1992.[5]