After Alick William Dockrill (1915 −),Australian orchidologist and author.
Epiphytic or epilithic herbs, sympodial, with woody or wiry, creeping or partly aerial rhizomes. Stems very short, rhizome-like. Leaves at tip of stems, solitary, cylindrical or flattened, fleshy, stalkless. Inflorescences usually terminal racemes, solitary or few together, erect to pendent. Flowers nonresupinate, 1-many, small to medium sized, usually white to yellow with darker stripes or suffusions. Sepals similar, dorsal free, laterals fused to column foot forming a chin-like extension (mentum). Petals usually smaller than sepals, free. Labellum 3-lobed, joined to tip of column foot. Column usually short, toothed at tip, with a long foot. Pollinia 4, in 2 pairs.
Many botanical text books continue to include the members of the genus Dockrillia within Dendrobium (as the section Rhizobium), in spite of recent research that shows they warrant recognition at genus level. They can be readily distinguished from Dendrobium by a combination of characters, including the lack of pseudobulbs, large fleshy leaves and generally non-resupinate flowers with distinctly trilobed labella.
About 30 species from Australia, New Guinea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Samoa.
Solitary fleshy leaves at the tip of short rhizome-like stems; non-resupinate flowers often with very narrow segments.
Clements & Jones (1996).
Source: (2005). Orchidaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 5. Flowering plants. Monocotyledons. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
