!Doritis pulcherrima Lindley 1832 Photo by Jesus Cid

Another Color Form Peloric Photo by Eric Hunt

Full shadeWarmTo Hot LATESummerTHROUGH Fall

Common Name Yhe Beautiful Doritis

Flower Size 1/2 to 2" [1.25 to 5 cm]

A hot to warm growing lithophytic or terrestrial orchid in sandy soils found in the Chinese Himalayas, Assam India, Myanamar, Thailand, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Yunnan China, Vietnam, Borneo and Sumatra in evergreen, lowland forests along canyons of montane streams and rivers in bright humid environments with a short, leafy stem, carrying oblanceolate to narrowly elliptic, obtuse to subacute leaves a simple, erect to 3' [90 cm] tall, inflorescence carrying many flowers of which to 10 may be open at oncc with the inflorescence lengthening as the bloom season lenghtens and occuring in all Southeast Asia requiring even watering and fertilizer through out the year. It is the same as Phalaenopsis in it's cultural necessities yet requires more light to flower well.

Synonyms Doritis pulcherrima f. albiflora (Rchb.f.) Roeth & O.Gruss 1999; Phalaenopsis antennifera Rchb.f 1879; Phalaenopsis buyssoniana Rchb. f. 1888; Phalaenopsis esmeralda Rchb.f 1874; Phalaenopsis esmeralda var. albiflora Rchb.f. 1877; Phalaenopsis esmeralda var rubra Hort. ex Stein 1892; Phalaenopsis mastersii King & OPantl. 1897; Phalaenopsis pulcherrima [Lindley] J.J.Smith 1933; Phalaenopsis pulcherrima f. alba (O.Gruss & Roeth) E.A.Christenson 2001; Phalaenopsis pulcherrima f. albiflora (Rchb.f.) Christenson 2001

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; The Orchids of Burma Grant 1895/95 as Phalaenopsis esmeralda; A Checklist of the Orchids of Borneo Wood & Cribb 1994; The Wild Orchids of China Tsi, Chen & Mori 1997; Orchids of Sumatra Comber 2002

Doritis pulcherrima f. alba O.Gruss & J.Roeth 1999 Photo courtesy of Eric Hunt, plant grown by

A white color form of the previous species.

Synonyms Phalaenopsis pulcherrima f. alba (O.Gruss & Roeth) E.A.Christenson 2001

Doritis pulcherrima Lindley var coerulea Fowlie 1969 Photo courtesy of Dale and Deni Borders

A blue color form of the previous species.

Synonyms Doritis pulcherrima f. caerulea (Fowlie) O.Gruss & Roeth 1999; Doritis pulcherrima var. caerulea Fowlie 1969; Phalaenopsis pulcherrima f. caerulea (Fowlie) Christenson 2001;