Phalaenopsis lowii Rchb.f 1862 SUBGENUS Parishinae SECTION Aphyllae Sweet
Photo by © Lourens Grobler
Photo by © Orchidfoto.com.
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AND EARLY
Common Name Low's Phalaenopsis [English Orchid Gardener and collector 1800's]
Flower Size about 1.2 to 2" [3 to 5 cm]
Found in Myanmar, Thailand and Borneo in conjunction with limestone rocks at elevations around sealevel to 500 meters near rivers as a miniature sized, hot to to warm growing epiphyte or sometimes lithophyte with deciduous leaves with an erect or ascending stem enveloped by imbricating leaf bases carrying elliptic, obovate or oblong-elliptic, fleshy, acute or obtuse leaves that blooms in the summer and earlyfall on a lateral, arcuate to pendant, 10 to 15" [25 to 37.5 cm] long, racemose or rarely paniculate, laxly many flowered inflorescence with small triangular bracts and fragrant, fleshy, long-lived flowers that have an extremely long, beak-like rostellum.
This species experiences a long drought in nature which causes it to shed it's leaves especially when growing as a lithophyte, in pot cultivation it is best to grow it wetter and keep 3 to 5 leaves for optimum growing.
Synonyms Doritis lowii (Rchb.f.) T.Yukawa & K.Kita 2005; Phalaenopsis lowii f. alba O.Gruss 2001; Phalaenopsis proboscidioides Parish ex Rchb.f 1868; Polychilos lowii (Rchb. f.) Shim 1982
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Xenia Orchidaceae vol 2 Rchb.f 1868 drawing fide; The Orchids of Burma Grant 1895/95; Die Orchideen Schlechter 1915; Atlas des Orchidees Cultivees Constantin 1920 drawing fide; Encyclopedia of Cultivated Orchids Hawkes 1965; AOS Bulletin Vol 38 No 3 1969 collection sheet/drawing fide; The Genus Phalaenopsis Sweet 1980 drawing good; Rudolf Schlechter Die Orchideen Band 1B lieferung 19/20 1129 - 1264 Brieger 1988; Orchid Species Culture "P" Bakers 1991; The Manual Of Cultivated Orchid Species Bechtel, Cribb & Launert 1992 drawing fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 65 No 8 1996 photo fide; Phalaenopsis A Monograph E A Christenson 2001 drawing/photo fide; A field Guide to the Wild Orchids of Thailand Vaddhanaphuti 2001 photo fide; Orchid Digest Vol 66 #4 2002 photo fide; A field Guide to the Wild Orchids of Thailand Vaddhanaphuti 2005 photo fide; A to Z of South East Asian Orchid Species Vol 2 O'Byrne 2011 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 84 #6 2015 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 85 #11 2016 photo fide; Orchid Digest Vol 83 #4 2019 Photo fide
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