Welcome to the world of Dendrobium officinale
At first glance you might assume this
is just another beautiful flower, but you would be very
wrong!
Dendrobium officinale, or T'ieh-p'i Shih-hu, is
actually an endangered orchid native to South and Southeast
Asia. Traditionally this orchid has been used for medicinal
purposes in the Chinese culture.
When you think of orchids you may think of the pretty pink or
white orchids, but in fact there are HUNDREDS of different types
of orchids in Dendrobium genus alone!
To
discover more about where D. officinale fits with other
orchids explore my classification
page. Orchids are also quite unique in their reproduction.
Dendrobium orchids can reproduce in three different ways,
to learn about these different ways go to my
reproduction page. In order for
Dendrobium officinale to reproduce it needs to
interact with a mycorrhizal fungi
for germination.
Dendrobium officinale is a unique orchid because it
grows on rocks, trees, or even cliffs. This orchid's
habitat is really on the edge!
Speaking of living on the edge,
nutrition is hard to come by, tropical and subtropical areas
in China are often quite shady thus obtaining nutrients is a
challenge. Dendrobiu
m
officinale has developed specific
adaptations for acquiring essential nutrients to survive.
Recently Japanese and American biochemists have begun to
investigate the healing powers of Dendrobium officinale.
Scientists have discovered that this orchid has possible
antibiotic and cancer fighting abilities! Why has this
miraculous orchid been overlooked by health professionals until
now? In this website I will guide you through this marvelous
orchid, so you too can see the bright future ahead for this
orchid, and our health care.
To find about more organisms that are used for medicinal
purposes check out
multipleorganisms.net, these websites were created in 2011
by my classmates! For organisms that are from all over
the world check out the
main
site.
These wonderful websites were created by students in Organismal
Biology at the
University of Wisconsin - La Crosse.