This delightful dendrobium species is native to the Philippines where it is reported as growing on mossy limestone cliffs at an altitude of 1400m. The 1.5cm wide flowers each have a prominent purple blotch on the lip which gives rise to the name.

The species is bird pollinated and hangs its bunches of flowers from older pseudobulbs. The flowers here are on bulbs grown in 2015 while the 2016 pseudobulbs have sprays of flowers that will open in about a month. The 2017 pseudobulbs will not flower until next year.

We find that the species does best grown warm with water throughout the year as it is always in growth.