Any ideas on genus?

[taipan]

Hello Aus.
Hope you enjoyed your BBQ, suppose you had a few beers or good ol Aussie red to wash the food down.
Eric Christenson wrote a synopsis on Phal,s & included Kingidium & Doritis under the Phal."umbrella"& gave valid reasons for doing so. However I read an article recently where a Japanese guy has not only taken some out but changed some Phal,s eg P.gibbosae & included it with Kingidium.

Ross.
The plants are not Sarc's. Sarc's are green leafed & The leaves on some are falcate - leaves are a lot narrower. They inhabit very humid & shady areas. Not Angraecoids either.

[Aussie42]

Originally Posted by taipan

Sorry Junebug but they are either a Doritis or Phal hybrid - inclined to say Doritis. Rhync's have a distinct "notch "on the end of the leaf.

Sorry Taipan - I didn't have time to read all posts fully earlier as I was running around getting the lamb on etc. I didn't notice you'd specifically mentioned Doritis and I think you were spot on there - that or a cross with a phal, perhaps.

If the plant wasn't so unusual (especially the underside of the leaves) I would never have bothered you all with it until it flowered, but it's been driving me nuts.

I'm going to try moving one of them into bark but I'm very nervous about this. I keep thinking of the first rule of medicine which as I remember it goes "first do no harm". They're happy in charcoal and are seemingly thriving - the roots seem to shoot out seasonally, then go dormant so I figure it's no problem that they aren't going nuts year-round. Ah well, bark is easier to get than charcoal and doesn't need grading and washing. And given the price of fuel these days, buying a bark mix at the local hardware store is probably cheaper than a 4-hour round trip to my distant uncle's place.

Oh, the lamb was perfect and I went with the beer option if you were wondering, Taipan.

Thanks everyone.

Cheers,
Aus.

PS - the only taipan's I've met in the past have been most unfriendly and unhelpful. I've nearly trodden on two that I can recall offhand, one actually chasing me a short distance, so it's nice to meet a friendly one!

[Bird Song Farm]

Just going to throw this is for my worth.
Many of my hybrid phals have reddish/purple underside coloring. From my studies and experience this usually means the blossom is pink or purple or has some pink/purple in the blossom. Of course, P. schilleriana is naturally "purple" on the underside of the leaves. I have one phal, P. Pretty Nice, that the underside is so deeply colored it comes through on the top! Makes for a really pretty leaf!

AL

[taipan]

Aus
I had another look at the first photo & noticed the root system is not that extensive. I would be inclined ( based on the observation ) to repot them but wait till early to mid spring when the warmer weather starts.
I too have seen a couple of Taipans - up Nth ( Townsville ) & they looked stunning in the sunlight but yes they are unfriendly. If I can find a plant of Doritis at the nursery I will get a photo of it for you.
Rgds