Common Name: Pink Rock Lily, Capt. King's Dendrobium, The Pink Rock Orchid
Scented: yes
Light Requirements: partial sun
Temperature Requirements: cool to intermediate
Blooms: late winter and early spring
Flower Size: 2cm to 3cm
Synonyms: Callista kingiana (Bidwill ex Lindl.) Kuntze 1891; Dendrocoryne kingianum (Bidwill ex Lindl.) Brieger 1981; Thelychiton kingianus (Bidwill ex Lindl.) M.A.Clem. & D.L.Jones 2002; Tropilis kingiana (Bidwill ex Lindl.) Butzin 1982
This is a small to large sized, cool to warm growing lithophytic orchid from Queensland and New South Wales Australia at elevations of 50m to 1200m where it is found both on the coast and in the mountains growing lithophytically on rocks and cliff faces forming dense mats, with swollen basally and then fusiform, sulcate, dark colored stems carrying 2 to 7, near the apex, ovate, thin textured leaves and blooms in the late winter and early spring on an axillary, erect to arcuate, medium length to 40cm, few to 20 flowered, fragrant raceme that arises from the leaf axils at the apex of the canes both new and old. Water should be greatly reduced and fertilizer eliminated from mid autumn until new growth appears in the spring.
The flowers of the species are quite colour variable and have a full range of colours between red, purple, white striped and purplish blue.