''Dendrobium affine'', commonly known as the white butterfly orchid, malakmalak or matngala in

Australian Aboriginal languages The Indigenous languages of Australia number in the hundreds, the precise number being quite uncertain, although there is a range of estimates from a minimum of around 250 (using the technical definition of 'language' as non-mutually intellig ...

is an

epiphytic An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Orchidaceae. It has cylindrical pseudobulbs, each with up to ten leaves and flowering stems with up to twenty white flowers with yellow or purple markings on the labellum. It occurs in northern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

and

Timor Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is East Timor–Indonesia border, divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western p ...

, where it grows on the bark of trees.

Description

''Dendrobium affine'' is an epiphytic

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

with cylindrical green pseudobulbs long and wide with between two and ten leaves on its upper half. The leaves are long and wide. The flowering stem is long and bears between two and twenty white flowers long and wide. The

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

s are long, and wide with the lateral sepals slightly wider than the dorsal sepal. The

petal Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...

s are about the same length as the sepals but broader. The labellum is yellow with purple markings, about long, wide and has three lobes. The side lobes are upright and the middle lobe often curves downwards and has five ridges along its midline. Flowering occurs from March to August.

Taxonomy and naming

The white tea tree orchid was first formally described in 1834 by

Joseph Decaisne Joseph Decaisne (7 March 1807 – 8 January 1882) was a French botanist and agronomist. He became an ''aide-naturaliste'' to Adrien-Henri de Jussieu (1797-1853), who served as the chair of rural botany. It was during this time that he began to stu ...

who gave it the name ''Onychium affine'' and published the description in ''Nouvelles annales du Muséum d'histoire naturelle''. In 1840 Ernst Gottlieb von Steudel changed the name to ''Dendrobium affine'' in his book ''Nomenclator Botanicus''. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

(''affine'') is a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word meaning "related to" or "neighboring".

Distribution and habitat

''Dendrobium affine'' is a bark epiphyte and grows on trees in moist places such as rainforest, on stream banks and in paperbark swamps. It is found in northern parts of the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

including Melville Island, the

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

region of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

and the Moluccas. It occurred on

in the past but may now be extinct there.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15450109 affine Orchids of the Northern Territory Orchids of New Guinea Orchids of Western Australia Plants described in 1834 Taxa named by Joseph Decaisne