Paraphalaenopsis
(pronounced: payr-ah-fayl-eh-NOP-siss)
Classification
Vandeae subtribe Aeridinae. Paraphalaenopsis has been placed in a broadly defined Phalaenopsis by some authors. However, data from several lines of investigation suggest that apparent floral similarities result from convergent evolution and the two genera
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Overview
Pendent epiphytes. Stems short, rooting at the base. Leaves spirally arranged, terete, fleshy, laxly pendent, acute-subulate, with a groove along the upper surface. Inflorescences horizontal racemes, usually densely subumbellate, the peduncles short. Flowers showy, with undulate segments. Sepals and petals free, spreading, the margins frequently revolute. Lip three-lobed, clawed, with a prominent central callus. Column stout, with a foot, without wings; pollinia 2, with a cleft nearly dividing them into 4, on a common stipe and viscidium.
Distribution
A genus of four species endemic to Borneo.
Care and Culture Card
See basic growing conditions and care information below.
Give Paraphalaenopsis warm temperatures, very bright light, and steady watering throughout the year. Despite the xerophytic appearance of the terete leaves, plants of Paraphalaenopsis should not be significantly dried out between waterings. In nature the plants grow pendently but they may be grown either pendently or upright in cultivation. Perhaps the best way to accomodate their growth habit is to grow them in baskets which are themselves tilted at an angle. Any growing medium may be used although best results are obtained with fine quality osmunda fiber.
SpeciesKey
1 Flowers white, in a raceme with an semi-elongate rachis . P. serpentilingua 1' Flowers not white, in a simultaneously-flowering subumbellate head. 2 2(1') Flowers pink. P. laycockii 2' Flowers green to brown. 3 3(2') Lateral lobes of lip falcate-acute; flowers brownish- green, the sepals and petals with paler margins. P. denevei 3' Lateral lobes of lip oblong-rectangular with an apical hook-like appendage; flowers rich brownish red, the sepals and petals with highly contrasting pale cream margins. P. labukensis
Literature
Hawkes, A. D. 1963. O género Paraphalaenopsis. Orquidea 25:212-215; Hawkes, A. D. 1967. On Paraphalaenopsis. Phytologia 15(1):1; Shim, P. S., A. Lamb and C. L. Chan 1981. A new Paraphalaenopsis from Sabah, Paraphalaenopsis labukensis Shim, Lamb & Chan. Orchid Digest 45:139-142.
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