114 
The Queensland Naturalist May 1945 
DENDROBIUM ADAE. F. M. BAILEY 
By the Rev. II. M. R. RUPP, Northbridge, N.S.W. 
(Plate VI.) 
This is one of the most beautiful of the North Queens- 
land orchids. I must confess that although I have had a 
plant in my bush-house for some years, I have not appre- 
ciated it at its proper value until the present spring of 
1943. It has been quite healthy and has produced new 
growths, but hitherto has borne only one or two flowers. 
For some strange reason, the exceptionally cold winter of 
this year appears to have stimulated it to unusual vigour, 
for six racemes developed, carrying 17 flowers in all, and 
these have charmed us and our visitors for the past three 
weeks with their delicate beauty and exquisite perfume. 
Bailey’s description in Queensl.Fl. Vol. V, p. 1529, is 
adequate for purposes of identification, but may be sup- 
plemented as follows: Flowers 1 to 6 in the raceme, 
nearly twice as large as those of D. Kingianum Bidw. 
Sepals rich cream, all strikingly recurved ; petals narrower, 
pure white, slightly incurved, never recurved. Labellum 
pure white except for faint purple striae on the inside of 
the lateral lobes; mid-lobe spathulate rather than cordate, 
glistening-pubescent on the inner surface, which is very 
concave. Perfume resembling a combination of tuberose 
and Pittospornm undulation , but milder and more delicate. 
The conspicuous recurving of the sepals gives the 
flower a most unusual and attractive appearance; all the 
more so because the petals by way of contrast are inclined 
to curve inwards, though very slightly. The contrast 
between the rich cream colour of the sepals and the pure 
white of the rest of the flower is very effective. 
When not in bloom, it is practically impossible to dis- 
tinguish a plant of T). Adae from one of D. Flccheri Rupp 
& White, which was described and figured in this journal, 
Vol. X, No. 2, pp. 25-6. As a matter of fact my own plant 
of the former was sent to me by Dr. II. Flecker, of Cairns, 
under the impression that it was the species named after 
him. Curiously, although both species live under similar 
conditions within the same area, D. Fleckeri appears to be 
more sensitive to cold than the other. It. has never failed 
to produce less than a dozen flowers for me until the 
present season, when two lonely buds are appearing, very 
late, 
