Densrochilum apoense is endemic to Mindanao, Philippines. As the name suggests, it was originally found from Mt. Apo, which is the tallest mountain in Philippines. Mt. Apo is located close to Davao City, the third most populous city in Philippines.
Trey Sanders maintains a wonderful web site about Dendrochilum, and here is the link to information about D. apoense.
The flowers are small, but each inflorescence produces 19-28 flowers, and many inflorescences are produced. The yellowish flowers with orange lips are pretty. It is a compact plant (the height of leaves+pseudobulbs are around 5cm).
According to Trey's site, this species is similar to D. eymae and D. ambangense. I haven't located illustrations or pictures of these two similar species. Trey's site mentions that D. apoense can be distinguished from these two species by erose margins of the petal and lip. Entire margins mean smooth edges, and erose margins mean irregular, jagged edges. The top close-up photo of the flower (see above) shows the jagged edges of petals well. It is difficult to see the erose margins of the lip, but when you magnify, I can see that it has irregular edges.
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| Some inflorescences show spiral phyllotaxis, but it is difficult to see it in this photo |
It isn't a common species, and I purchased this plant from Popow Orchids in spring 2016. The plant has filled up the 2.25" diameter pot nicely in 2 years. This is the first bloom for me.
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| spring 2018 |
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| Spring 2016, right after import |
Trey's site doesn't mention the elevation range of this species, but IOSPE mentions that it is from 1500-2500m (link). I have been growing it at the cool-end of intermediate; max/min daily temperature of 29/18C (84/65F) in the summer and 21/13C (70/55F) in the winter. I keep it pretty dry; the media dries out completely between the watering since the pot is pretty small. During the winter, it get very slightly less water (watered every 6 days instead of 4-5 days in the summer). It seems to grow pretty well in this condition.
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