Dendrobium reconditum, commonly known as the closed burr orchid,[1] is an epiphytic orchid in the family Orchidaceae and is endemic to Moa Island in the Torres Strait. It has a single thin leaf on a thin stem and a small white, more or less spherical flower that does not open. It grows on rough-barked trees in rainforest.
Dendrobium reconditum is an epiphytic herb that usually forms small clumps. It has a flattened stem, NaNsigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 long and about 1sigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 wide with a single thin, dark green leaf NaNsigfig=2NaNsigfig=2 long and NaNsigfig=2NaNsigfig=2 wide. There is a single, more or less spherical white flower about 3sigfig=2NaNsigfig=2 in diameter with fleshy tubercles about 1sigfig=2NaNsigfig=2 wide on the ovary. Flowering occurs between January and July but the flower does not open.[2] [3]
The closed burr orchid was first formally described in 2006 by David Jones and Mark Clements from a specimen collected on Moa Peak on the northern end of Moa Island. It was given the name Cadetia clausa and the description was published in Australian Orchid Research.[4] In 2011, André Schuiteman and Peter Adams changed the name to Dendrobium reconditum, referring to studies of molecular phylogenetics.[5] [6] The specific epithet (reconditum) is a Latin word meaning "hidden" or "concealed",[7] referring to the cleistogamous flowers.
The closed burr orchid grows on rough-barked trees in rainforest on low hills and is only known from Moa Island.