Papilionanthe
(pronounced: pap-ill-ee-oh-NAN-thee)
Classification
Vandeae subtribe Aeridinae
Overview
Scrambling epiphytes rooting at the nodes. Roots apophototrophic. Leaves terete, alternate, distichous, appearing spiralled. Inflorescences scapose racemes from the upper stem nodes, few-flowered. Flowers showy. Sepals and petals free, spreading. Lip three-lobed, often with ancillary lobules, saccate-spurred, flexibly continuous with the column foot, with a small central callus of two parallel keels. Column short, stout; pollinia 2, sulcate, on a linear-oblong stipe and a viscidium.
Distribution
A genus of 10 species ranging from Sri Lanka and South India to Sulawesi. Papilionanthe species and hybrids are the terete-leaved “Vandas” of tropical horticulture. The hybrid “Vanda” Miss Agnes Joaquim (P. hookeriana x P. teres) is the national flower of
Care and Culture Card
See basic growing conditions and care information below.
Grow Papilionanthe in full light with frequent watering. Their scrambling habit is difficult to accomodate but may be managed by growing the plants in wire screen tubes, the growing points and inflorescences poking out through the holes in the mesh. In the tropics and subtropics, plants of Papilionanthe are best managed in outdoor beds with a well-drained coarse epiphytic mixture. Most species should be given warm temperatures although Himalayan species such as P. teres prefer intermediate to cool-intermediate temperatures. ........................................ P. pedunculata
Literature
Averyanov, L. V. and E. A. Christenson 1998. Orchids of Vietnam: Papilionanthe pedunculata. Orchids 67(2):148-149. Christenson, E. A. 1994. Sarcanthine genera 15: Papilionanthe Schltr. Amer. Orchid Soc. Bull. 63(12):1374-1377. Motes, M. 1998. Cultivating Papilionanthes. Orchids 67(2):150-151. Sheehan, T. and M. Sheehan 1998. Orchid genera illustrated 180: Papilionanthe. Orchids 67(1):46-47.
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