The dendrobiums comprise an enormous genus and their growth is extremely varied to suit all environments. A somewhat unusual species is D. cunninghami, which is adapted to the temperate conditions of New Zealand.
The more typical elongated but plump pseudobulbs have here been reduced to thin stems which branch and rebranch, each stem clothed in thin, narrow leaves until the whole plant becomes a loose bundle of stems and leaves. Lacking the rigidity to grow upright the plant forms a pendent green shower, ideally fitted to a cooler climate which. experiences high winds.
No part of the plant is soft, the roots arc thin and wiry, the leaves hard, almost rough to the touch. Thus the plant is able to stand a severe climate, at the same time capable of extracting what little moisture there is available through its foliage.
Annoectochilus and related genera comprise a group known collectively as the jewel orchids. Undoubtedly theirs is the most beautiful foliage of any in the orchid family. The plants arc terrestrial and grow in heavy shade, in warm humid forests throughout the Far East and parts of the USA.
They grow from a fleshy horizontal rhizome which lies on the ground. Their plants form a rosette of leaves and bloom from the centre upon maturity of the growth. The glistening beauty of the leaves can be a deep velvety green, copper or mauve, laced with gold or silver threads.
These tiny plants are mostly all leaves, as can be seen in the 
p plant (above), Ornithocephalis iridefolius. This is a fully mature plant which produces a fan of leaves with the flower spikes in between the leaves. Our lower plant is Pleurothallis stellis, a typical member of a large genus which has short stems and single leaves. Both plants come from tropical America.
