Calanthe

Finding

SITF has determined this plant to be Calanthe masuca, not Calanthe sylvatica (Jul 2022) with the aid of Philip Cribb; C. sylvatica and C. masuca are very similar, but are distinct and differ in the form of the lip and lip carriage; although there is much variability in the species, the shape of the lip, smaller side lobes and form of the petals match C. masuca better than does C. sylvatica; there does seem to be some confusion in the available, on-line photos between the two species.

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Number Of Leaves Per Growth Or Cane: 8

Leaf Length: 34.0

Leaf Width: 13.0

Leaf Margin: smooth

Leaf Shape: pleated

Ovary Length: 3.6

Ovary Width: 0.3

Ovary Color: violet-purple

Judging Center: Mid-America JC

Award Number: 20214278

Award Date: October 02, 2021

Awarded As: HCC

Judging team had questions on validity due to the size of the side lobes of the lip. The two previous awards have larger side lobes, but researching through Orchid Wiz and other online sources the judges found a sizeable range of lip sizes for this species. The judges in particular felt that this plant looked similar to awards given by the Germans (D.O.G.A.)

Eight flowers and 15 buds on two sequentially flowering inflorescences up to 45-cm long; older flowers fading to brown-purple; sepals and petals white overlaid violet-purple distally; trilobed lip dark violet-purple, darker basally, side lobes minute, crest black-purple, 4.0-cm spur violet-purple; column white overlaid violet-purple, anther cap black-purple; substance light; texture crystalline.

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Learn more about the Calanthe genus