Looking for limestone lithophytic orchids

[ALToronto]

Specifically, I'm looking for orchids that can handle a pH of around 8 or even a little higher. So far, I know of only two paphs that fit the bill - micranthum and leucochilum. Would Doritis pulcherrima be in that group as well? Some mountable orchids would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Yes, Doritis pulcherrima is one of them...

However, there a lot more than those!

Habenaria carnea
Habenaria erichmichelii
Habenaria rhodocheila
Habenaria xanthocheila

Paph armeniacum
Paph malipoense
Paph micranthum

Paph niveum

Phal maculata

Phrag schlimii
Phrag kovachii

[ALToronto]

Thanks Philip!

Can all of these handle a high pH, or does it need to be moderated by acidic moss? And are the habenarias mountable on a rock-type mount?

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

From what I've seen of the photos of them growing in the wild, many of them are growing on limestone that have a layer of live moss growing on them. It is constantly moist.

In the case of the Phrags, I've seen photos of the rocks they are growing on covered in lichens as well.

The roots of these lithophytes are usually hidden between rock crevices. These crevices are probably trapping a small amount of some kind of organic materials.

I've grown a few of the limestone growing orchids, and from what I've seen, they can tolerate our tap water just fine. Our tap water has a lot of dissolved minerals in them and are hard, with a pH that is likely somewhere on the order of 8.

You can try to do a Google search and see if you can pull a few pics of these orchids growing in the wild. Even better, would be if you could afford to make a trip to these countries and find a reliable tour guide to take you to these plants.

Btw, if you like something that looks like Paph delenatii, but grows on limestone hills, then Paph vietnamense also grows on limestone hills.