What's the biggest Orchid you've ever seen?

[Kratos]

Went to a local garden center a few weeks back and they had lots of orchids past their primes and being sold off at marked down prices (resisted huge temptation), but came across one that was HUGE, searching the web still haven't found anything like it! Wish I had taken a picture... it had four tall flowing stalks, the pot was gigantic with a great many leaves.

It got me wondering, is it possible for normal Orchids to get to that size over many years or was it some type of gigantic Phalaenopsis species? What's the largest orchid you've ever seen?

[bonsai1504]

this is the biggest one i've ever seen (that's my arm on the left for comparison)

[AndreaM]

Check this one out!! It is Angraecum Veitchii and when this picture was taken, the orchid stood about four feet tall and produced over 100 blooms - very fragrant.

Enjoy,
Andrea
1888Orchids

[Kratos]

Wow! I take it all back Those two are MASSIVE! Wonder how many years they took to get like that.

[Mahon]

Are we talking height or width?
The tallest orchid I've seen is my Vanda roxburghii f. aurea, which in the picture, stood about 8 feet tall a few years ago (I'm 6'1" for reference). I believe it is currently around the 10 1/2ft. mark, need to take out my extra-long school ruler... the roots are tied into a ball, and would add an additional 3 or 4 feet to it if they hung down!



The widest orchid I've seen was a Eulophia species at Redlands 2 years ago, a massive specimen maybe 5 feet across (?) completely full of bulbs... it was an amazing plant, or perhaps a compilation of many plants.

-PM

[Gwenchanter]

There is an orchid mass living in a tree which towers over the old entrance parking lot of Fairchild Tropical Garden in Miami Florida, and thats the largest orchid I've ever seen in person. The mass would probably just barely fit in the bed of a pickup truck. It's so high up in the tree I can't tell what it is but if I had to guess i'd say a dendrobium or something in the catt. alliance. I've never seen it in flower but I will try to take a picture next time I'm there which may be in a few months.

[Andrew]

Not in the a Phal alliance and not mine but I did have to help the owner carry this Dendrobium specisoum var grandiflorum into a show a few years back. It's big for a cultivated plant in southern Australia but I'm sure the Queenslanders on the list have seen much bigger.