Phaius terrestris (L.) Ormerod 1994 Photos courtesy of Jim Comber, Dr. E.F. de Vogel and Jaap Vermeulen and Their Netherlands National Herbarium Website. and Flora Malesiana Vol III

Common Name or Meaning The Terrestrial Phaius

Flower Size 1.4" [6 cm]

Found in Java, the Moluccas, the Philippines, Sulawesi, the Bismark archipelago, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Northrn Australia, Fiji, New Caledonia, Samoa, Vanuatu, Cook Islands and CarolineIslands at elevations of 100 to 600 meters as a large to giant sized, hot growing terrestrial with an erect, stem enveloped completely by many leaf bearing sheaths and carrying plicate, 7 nerved, progressively larger from bottom to top, elliptic, acute leaves that blooms in the spring and summer on an axillary, fron the lower third of the stem on an erect 20" to 30" [50 to 75 cm] long, several [10] flowered, racemose inflorescence carrying the flowers well spread out along top portion ofthe infloresscence

Synonyms Bletia amboinensis Zipp. ex Blume 1856; *Epidendrum terrestre L. 1759; Geodorum terrestre (L.) Garay 1997; Phaius amboinensis Blume 1856; Phaius amboinensis var. papuanus (Schltr.) Schltr. 1912; Phaius graeffei Rchb.f. 1868; Phaius neocaledonicus Rendle 1921; Phaius papuanus Schltr. 1905; Phaius zollingeri Rchb.f. 1857

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Orchids of Java Comber 1990 as P. amboinensis; Lowland Orchids of Papua New Guinea O'Byrne 1994 as P amboinensis var papuana; Native Orchids of New Caledonia Societe' Neo-Caledonienne D' Orchidophile 1995 as P neocaledonicus; Flora Malesiana Orchids of the Philippines Vol I Agoo, Shuiteman and de Vogel 2003 as P. amboinensis ;