To what alliance do Sarcochilus belong?

[Andrew]

Originally Posted by Undergrounder

ALLIANCE Phalaenopsis

Speaking of which, 'Sarconopsis' (Phalaenopsis x Sarcochilus) seems like a really interesting mix... anyone seen one in flower? Maybe they have enough cool-grown Sarc in them to mount one outside

Undergrounder,
I grow my Sarconopsis Rita Anderson outside (shadehouse) year round in Melbourne. You should have no problem with them in Sydney. FWIW I also grow Sartylis and Sarcovanda without heat in Melbourne. From what I've seen cold tolerance appears to favour the Sarc in Sarc intergenerics.

As far as Sarconopsis, from the plants I've seen the Sarc parentage is very dominant in flower size and shape, however, the flowers are a slightly bigger than Sarcs with more substance. Leaf shape is similar to Sarcochilus although they tend to be bigger. Bolero's description of a Sarc on steroids is probably on the ball. There's not much that looks particularly Phal-like about them.

[Bolero]

Yeah I've often wondered why the Sarc is so dominant. I wonder if any go the other way?

[Andrew]

I find Sarcochilus is fairly dominant in most intergenerics, not just Sarconopsis. Sarcovanda's are very similar to Sarcs in terms of shape and size. Plectorrhiza takes a lot of the size out in Plectochilus but the shape is very much in line with Sarcochilus. The long, whispy tepalled Rhinerrhiza is reduced to a Sarc with lanceolate tepals in Rhinochilus. I don't know whether the Sarc dominance is due to the genus itself or whether a lot of the crosses have species like hartmannii, fitzgeraldii and falcatus in their background, which tend o be very dominant in intrageneric Sarc hybrids.

[maitaman]

Sarcanthianae

[cneos]

Originally Posted by Undergrounder

ALLIANCE Phalaenopsis

Speaking of which, 'Sarconopsis' (Phalaenopsis x Sarcochilus) seems like a really interesting mix... anyone seen one in flower? Maybe they have enough cool-grown Sarc in them to mount one outside

We grow Sarconopsis Lavinia (Sarcochilus hartmanii x Phalaenopsis amabilis) in our collection. While it is grown in phalaenopsis light and temps, it's in a basket with tree-fern fiber and is watered daily (like the vandas) except on cloudy or rainy days. We haven't seen flowers yet, but will post when something happens.

In the meantime, there are photos of sarconopsis at Orchid Images - Australian Native Species