Dendrobium nobile (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Dendrobium nobile Lindl.

Protologue: Gen. sp. orchid. pl.: 79 (1830).

Synonyms

• Dendrobium lindleyanum Griffith (1851).

Vernacular names

• Thailand: ueang khao kiu (northern)
• Vietnam: thạch hộc, kim thoa thạch hộc, hoàng thảo.

Distribution

From the Himalayas to China, Indo-China and Thailand; in Malesia cultivated as an ornamental.

Uses

D. nobile is the most widely used among Dendrobium, and is considered tonic, stomachic and sialagogue. It is prescribed in mild fever following illness, thirst from stress, dryness of mouth and throat, flatulence, anorexia, lumbago and impotence.

Observations

• A branched herb, stems erect, compressed, furrowed when old, 30-60 cm long, including pseudo-bulbs.
• Leaves distichous, linear-oblong, 7-12 cm × 1-3 cm, lasting for 2 years, subsessile.
• Racemes on leaf-bearing or leafless stems.
• Flowers in clusters of 2-4, 6-8 cm in diameter, sepals and petals mauve, pink to red, paling to white at base, sepals lanceolate, up to 35-45 mm × 15 mm, acute, petals ovate, 40-50 mm × 25 mm, margin somewhat undulate, lip elliptical-ovate, 45 mm × 30 mm, hairy, funnel-shaped at base, throat dark violet, surrounded by yellow or white.

D. nobile occurs naturally in dense, humid forest. Many different cultivars have been developed.

Selected sources

• [407] Heyne, K., 1950. De nuttige planten van Indonesië [The useful plants of Indonesia]. 3rd Edition. 2 volumes. W. van Hoeve, 's-Gravenhage, the Netherlands/Bandung, Indonesia. 1660 + CCXLI pp.
• [459] Huxley, A., Griffiths, M. & Levy, M., 1992. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening. 4 volumes. The MacMillan Press Ltd., London, United Kingdom. 3353 pp.
• [569] Kudo, Y., Tanaka, A. & Yamada, K., 1983. Dendrobine, an antagonist of beta-alanine, taurine and of presynaptic inhibition in the frog spinal cord. British Journal of Pharmacology 78(4): 709—715.
• [678] Miwa, S, & Ozaki, H., 1975. Fertilization of Dendrobium nobile grown in bark. I. The effects of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium on plants potted in sphagnum moss or hemlock bark. Bulletin of the Shizuoka Agricultural Experiment Station 20: 108—122. (in Japanese)
• [739] Nguyen Van Duong, 1993. Medicinal plants of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Mekong Printing, Santa Ana, California, United States. 528 pp.
• [786] Perry, L.M., 1980. Medicinal plants of East and Southeast Asia. Attributed properties and uses. MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States & London, United Kingdom. 620 pp.
• [946] Sobhana, A. & Rajeevan, P.K., 1993. In vitro multiple shoot production in Dendrobium as influenced by cytokinins. Journal of Ornamental Horticulture 1(2): 1—5.

Main genus page

• Dendrobium

Authors

• Diah Sulistiarini