To what alliance do Sarcochilus belong?

[whygreenberg]

Hey there all! This is just a quick little question, mainly out of curiosity. I've seen conflicting info in various places online. Some say Vandaceous, some say Pleuro, I even saw one say Phal. I know that in the forums here, Sarcs are listed under the Pleuro alliance. But are there other monopodial pleuros?


yvan

[cb977]

According to Orchidwiz, they're in the Vandaceous group.

[Ray]

Yep.

SUBFAMILY Epidendroideae, TRIBE Vandeae, SUBTRIBE Aeridinae

[Undergrounder]

Originally Posted by Ray

Yep.

SUBFAMILY Epidendroideae, TRIBE Vandeae, SUBTRIBE Aeridinae

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

[cb977]

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

OW has it as Vandaceous (excluding Phalaenopsis)

[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.

[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

[whygreenberg]

Partly what confused me was that here on the OB, in the list of alliance forums, Sarcs are listed at the Pleuro alliance forum.

IOSPE also lists as Tribe: Vandae

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Vanda alliance. Without question. Pleurothallids are mostly New World orchids. Vandas are mostly Old World.

Sarcochilus spp. grows as a monopodial-sympodial. Pleurothallids grow as sympodials.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Also another way to figure it out is that most Pleurothallids especially Restrepias, Acronias, Pleurothallis, and Ancipitua have the two lateral sepals fused to form what is called a synsepal.

Vandaceous flowers don't have a synsepal, especially so with Sarcochilus spp.