These orchids grow quickly throughout summer, but take a rest during winter. Dormant buds erupt into shoots from the base of the pseudobulb mainly in spring, and a few species in autumn. This is then followed by rapid growth of new roots. Reproduction is usually through seed, but a few species reproduce asexually through keikis produced along the stem, usually after flowering and sometimes as a result of injury to the growing tip.
The 1889 book ‘The Useful Native Plants of Australia records that Dendrobium canaliculatum was called “Yamberin” by the Indigenous People of Queensland, Australia and that “The bulbous stems, after being deprived of the old leaves are edible (Thozet).”[3]