phal amabilis 'saba'

[cartercashfan]

my new phal amabilis. do you think it is a "normal" one or 4n? bought it from an orchid dealer out of a new import this spring.

[InspirChid1712]

The blooms look so delicate and graceful, much more so than white Phal hybrids with the more rounded shape! I don't know if it is normal or 4N, but it looks A-OK to me! I love it!

[dgenovese1]

Hi cartercashfan,
I'm not sure if you can tell by looking at the blooms if your plant is a 4N or normal Phal. amabilis. I do know that the 4N plants have more pairs of chromosomes, thus generally producing bigger flowers or blooms that last longer or smell better. The only definite way of finding out would be to perform DNA analysis. I suppose if there's a way to find out if the bloom size on your plant is above average for the species, then you could lean towards it being a 4N. I have a Phal. amabilis 4N that I purchased from a reliable source. I don't have any other Phal. amabilis to compare it to, but it's blooms were beautiful, uniform and lasted for about 3 months. Here is the best photo I was able to get of mine when it bloomed last winter.
Happy growing ~ David

[edwardwang]

P. amabilis has many variations from different habitats.
As I know, there are 2 systems in P. amabilis."Big flower" and "small flower"
Sabah(Borneo, Malaysia),Palawan(Philippines),and Java are belong to the former.
Some of them can be over 9 cm or more.
I don't know how big is yours, but it looks really like Sabah style.
Maybe the dealer made a mistake on the name.

[Chubidubi]

It looks so delicate and sweet.

[Tindomul]

Very nice. Is it possible to tell if you attempt to cross polinate it with another of known ploidy?