Smithsonian Gardens

Common name: The Cooktown Orchid, The Mauve Butterfly Orchid, The Two-Humped Dendrobium

Family: Orchidaceae subfam. Epidendroideae

Synonym: Dendrobium bigibbum var. album, Dendrobium bigibbum var. album 'H&R', Dendrobium bigibbum var. compactum, Dendrobium phalaenopsis var. album 'H&R'

Distribution: Lesser Sunda Island (Tanimbar Is), S New Guinea to Queensland (N and W Cape York Pen)

Habitat: Semi-arid regions; 0-1312ft (0-400m)

Life form: Epiphytic

Bloom Time (northern hemisphere): Year round; peaks from September to November

Bloom characteristics: Inflorescence is 8-16" (20.3-40.6 cm) long with 8-20 long-lasting, heavy, pink flowers. Flowers are 1.2-2" (3-5 cm) across.

Ethnobotanical uses: The aboriginal people of the northern Cape York Peninsula, Australia, wove the roasted inner bark of the stems of this orchid into belts and other decorations. The inner bark turns yellow when roasted.
This orchid is the floral emblem of Queensland, Australia, and the Maluku province of Indonesia.

Description: Considered one of Australia’s showiest orchids, D. bigibbum takes its scientific name from the two “humps” in its spur. An early favorite of collectors, D. bigibbum was mixed up in a particularly macabre instance of historic grave robbing when a plant growing out of a skull from a cemetery in the Tanimbar Islands of Indonesia was sold at an auction in London. However, none of this is the fault of this medium to large sized, arid-growing orchid, which can stay in bloom for months and is now protected by the Australian government.

Comments: Dendrobium bigibbum