Dendrobium canaliculatum

Tea tree orchid

A small epiphyte from the monsoon tropics of northern Australia and southern New Guinea. It grows almost only on paperbark trees (Melaleuca) in open, seasonally flooded woodland and swampy flats, mostly near sea level. It needs a hot, bright, very wet summer and a long, warm, dry winter, and it rots if kept wet and cool.

Dendrobium canaliculatum — Photo: Steve Fitzgerald, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

At home, aim for

Day Warm-growingTargets in Plantistry

Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry

Humidity Ordinary room humidityBand in Plantistry

Light Bright, filtered lightDLI and PPFD in Plantistry

Expects a seasonal restGrows on trees (epiphyte)

Where it grows wild

An epiphyte, rarely on rocks, found almost only on the trunks and branches of paperbarks such as Melaleuca viridiflora, M. quinquenervia and M. leucodendra. These grow in open savanna woodland, seasonally flooded plains, swamp margins, dune swales and along streams. Herbarium labels describe very open, low woodland on white sand or cracking clay, often with sparse understorey. Plants sit on the bark in strong light and dry out quickly after rain. One variety, foelschei, often grows on freshwater mangrove (Barringtonia acutangula) along rivers.

Mostly lowland: measured records span 1–901 m with a median of 31 m. The few higher records come from wet flushes on granite at about 650–820 m.

Australia: QueenslandAustralia: Northern TerritoryAustralia: Western AustraliaNew Guinea

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates

✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it

✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light

✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it

✓ Substrate and airflow

✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, unmodified.