Dendrobium schoeninum

Pencil orchid

A pendulous Australian orchid, also known as Dockrillia schoenina, with thin stems and fleshy, pencil-like leaves, found along creeks and rainforest margins in coastal Queensland and New South Wales. It typically hangs from the branches of river oak and swamp she-oak, where it gets bright, broken light and plenty of air. It is a vigorous, easy mount plant that flowers in spring.

Dendrobium schoeninum — Photo: Raffi Kojian, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

At home, aim for

Day IntermediateTargets 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 on the edges of rainforest, along streams and in swamps, very often on river oak (Casuarina cunninghamiana) and swamp she-oak (C. glauca), and sometimes a lithophyte on shaded rocks and cliffs. Its stems, 30–90 cm long, hang or stand up from the branch.

Coastal lowland to the lower ranges: recorded elevations are 30–940 m, median 550 m (26 records).

QueenslandNew South Wales

🔒 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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More Dendrobium

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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 3.0 licence, unmodified.