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Dendrobium faciferum; photograph (c) desertnaturalist, some rights reserved (CC BY) CC BY(c) desertnaturalist, some rights reserved (CC BY) · observed growing wild · 2023-10-14

Dendrobium faciferum J.J.Sm.

Orchidaceae · Lesser Sunda Is., Maluku +1 · listed by its genus as an orchid

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Dendrobium faciferum, photograph (c) desertnaturalist, some rights reserved (CC BY)Dendrobium faciferum, photograph (c) desertnaturalist, some rights reserved (CC BY)Dendrobium faciferum, photograph (c) desertnaturalist, some rights reserved (CC BY)Dendrobium faciferum, photograph snotch from Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia CommonsDendrobium faciferum, photograph snotch from Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia CommonsDendrobium faciferum, photograph snotch from Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons 16 photographs ›
Habitat figuresfrom few records
Cold floor (1 night in 100)
19.7°C
Record low 18.1 °C in 44 years, at a typical spot in the range NASA POWER
Warmest month, mean daily high
28°C
Oct, Nov and Dec at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
1,601mm
10 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
33–46DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in the habitat's months, not shifted
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
A sharp rainy season, December to April (the habitat's months, not shifted), in a year of even temperature. rain rule, CHELSA
Not shifted: the shift rule does not apply to this habitat. The chart is in the habitat's months.

From few records: 6 records in 6 grid cells. The records.

About the genus · Dendrobium

Dendrobium is a genus of mostly epiphytic and lithophytic orchids in the family Orchidaceae. It is a very large genus, containing more than 1,800 species that are found in diverse habitats throughout much of south, east and southeast Asia, including China, Japan, India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, New Guinea, Vietnam and many of the islands of the Pacific. Orchids in this genus have roots that creep over the surface of trees or rocks, rarely having their roots in soil. More on Wikipedia ›

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Dendrobium", CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cultivation

Grouped as an orchid, listed under the genus Dendrobium in the archetype table, and Kew describes it as “pseudobulbous epiphyte”.

Seasons

The rain rule reads a sharp season: 70% of the median year's rain (1,191 mm of 1,561 mm) falls in December to April. The temperature curve is flat, 2.4 °C between the warmest and coldest month, so the growing-season rule does not infer a growing season from it. Months are the habitat's, southern hemisphere. The habitat lies within 10° of the equator, where the shift rule does not apply, so they are not shifted for a collection elsewhere.

Rain

1,561 mm in the median year at the habitat, 1,191 mm of it December to April. Wettest month December at 284 mm, driest month August at 12 mm. Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 1,320 mm to 1,927 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 1,601 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 1,561 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, southern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 33 to 46 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 30, the highest 90th-percentile month 47).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range is 19.7 °C, the absolute minimum 18.1 °C, no frost in 44 years (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 35.6 °C. Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low 20.6 °C in August (across the grid cells of the range 18.8 °C to 23.6 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 28.4 °C in November (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: 19.7 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range (NASA POWER).

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 62 to 75% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain. CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the grid cells of the range. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light. CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Temperature. NASA POWER daily minima and maxima over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, lapse-corrected +39 m to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. The cold floor is the 1st-percentile night named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Group. Listed under the genus Dendrobium in the archetype table, and Kew describes it as “pseudobulbous epiphyte”. A group is taken only where Kew's description of the species agrees with the table's listing. The table gives no figure and no prose; the cold floor is the habitat's alone.

Climate across the habitat

From few records: this habitat climate is read from 6 records in 6 grid cells; a page says so under 12 records or 5 cells, and shows the figures as read.

Habitat months, southern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Dendrobium faciferum through the yearWarmest months October, November and December, mean daily high 28 °C; coldest month August, mean nightly low 20.6 °C; 1,561 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA; the extremes at the edge from NASA POWER. Habitat months, southern hemisphere.15°20°25°30°35°40°35.6° 99th-percentile day, NASA POWER18.1° lowest night in 44 years, NASA POWER°C · day and nightcold quarter0100200300400500mm rainDLI 33–46RH 62–75%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 6 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low extremes over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, from NASA POWER, marked at the edge, in no month DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C27 / 26–2827 / 26–2827 / 26–2927 / 26–3027 / 25–3026 / 24–3026 / 24–3026 / 24–3127 / 25–3328 / 26–3328 / 27–3228 / 26–29
Night °C23 / 22–2523 / 22–2523 / 22–2523 / 21–2522 / 21–2522 / 20–2421 / 19–2421 / 19–2421 / 19–2422 / 21–2523 / 22–2523 / 22–25
Rain mm274 / 220–401269 / 205–409214 / 157–257150 / 96–19583 / 36–15747 / 26–9731 / 16–6612 / 8–2216 / 13–2337 / 30–40144 / 83–195284 / 197–347
DLI34 / 30–3734 / 30–3638 / 35–3937 / 35–3835 / 34–3733 / 31–3535 / 33–3740 / 38–4144 / 43–4546 / 45–4743 / 42–4436 / 33–38
RH %74 / 71–7675 / 71–7772 / 69–7570 / 66–7268 / 63–7166 / 61–7066 / 59–6864 / 57–6762 / 56–6862 / 58–6966 / 64–7173 / 69–74
How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 6 grid cells on land that hold in-range records (6 records in those cells; 1 more cell holds records but no land by the elevation layer, so those records sit at sea and the cell is left out), with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 1997:6080 (-9.875, 124.025). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum 18.1 °C, 1st-percentile night 19.7 °C, 99th-percentile day 35.6 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 6 distinct grid cells holding 6 of the 7 in-range records (1 further cell with records at sea, by the elevation layer, left out); extremes and elevation at the typical cell 1997:6080 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -10.00_123.750, lapse-corrected +39 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 228 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeLesser Sunda Is., Maluku, Sulawesi · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker-7.803, 126.357 · in the densest population, 5 records (71% of those in range)
Kew's description“pseudobulbous epiphyte” · “wet tropical” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 7 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 6 of them in the land cells it reads, of 7 placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 1 openly licensed one, which alone would put the marker 4 km away. Under a dozen records behind the map and the climate.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population inside the densest 2° block of the 7 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Dendrobium faciferum, photograph 1did not loadDendrobium faciferum, photograph 2did not loadDendrobium faciferum, photograph 3did not loadDendrobium faciferum, photograph 4did not loadDendrobium faciferum, photograph 5did not loadDendrobium faciferum, photograph 6did not load

Photographs: (c) desertnaturalist, some rights reserved (CC BY) (3); snotch from Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (3).

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Garcinia dulcis Garcinia dulcis Claudie mangosteen Photo: CC BY-SA, Christian PirklCoelogyne imbricata Coelogyne imbricata Orchidaceae Photo: CC0, ForestowletPittosporum moluccanum Pittosporum moluccanum Pittosporaceae Photo: CC BY, Nina KerrEntada rheedei Entada rheedei African dream herb Photo: CC0, author not statedGarcinia warrenii Garcinia warrenii Warren's mangosteen Photo: CC BY, Martin RadyDischidia major Dischidia major Malayan Urn Vine Photo: CC BY, 謝麗霦

Other Dendrobium 264 in the reference

Dendrobium aberrans Dendrobium aberrans Orchidaceae Photo: CC BY, rdutaDendrobium acerosum Dendrobium acerosum Orchidaceae Photo: CC BY, Cheongweei Gan Dendrobium aciculare Orchidaceae Dendrobium acinaciforme Orchidaceae Dendrobium aduncum Orchidaceae Dendrobium aemulum Dendrobium aemulum Ironbark feather orchid Photo: CC BY, Sofia Zvolanek Dendrobium alaticaulinum Orchidaceae Dendrobium alexandrae Dendrobium alexandrae Orchidaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, OrchiDendrobium aloifolium Dendrobium aloifolium Aloe-Like Dendrobium Photo: CC BY, Gerard ChartierDendrobium amabile Dendrobium amabile Orchidaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, KENPEIDendrobium amethystoglossum Dendrobium amethystoglossum Orchidaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, Orchi Dendrobium amphigenyum Orchidaceae all 265 ›

Names & registers

Also known as Ceraia facifera. (GBIF Backbone)

GBIFPOWOIPNIWFOWikidataiNaturalist

The record

Family
Orchidaceae
Described by
J.J.Sm.
Native to
Lesser Sunda Is., Maluku, Sulawesi
Wild records
7 in range · 1 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-22
GBIF species record gbif.species answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular answeredasked 2026-10-22names fetched 2026-10-22
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredas of 2026-10-21GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hbdw64, of 2026-10-21
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-22
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-22NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell -10.00_123.750, lapse-corrected +39 m at 6.5 °C/km
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-22
Wikipedia wikipedia nothing to reportasked 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild answeredasked 2026-10-22from iNaturalist's open data of 2026-09-27: research-grade observations with an open-licence photograph, the 24 whose photographs iNaturalist received last (the open data holds no votes); filled 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media answeredasked 2026-10-22none of the photographs on this page is credited to GBIF: those shown are other sources', and GBIF's were the same photographs or were set aside by the photograph rules
Wikimedia Commons commons answeredasked 2026-10-22
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 1 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

Cultifolio

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