Which species phal is which? ID help, please!

[Mira-Claude]

The one on the cork mount is my lobbii. The leaves are 1 to 1 1/2'' long. The lobbii is also a deciduous orchids and even in a home culture will tend to lose it's leaves if the humidity is a bit low.

and here is a link to the wilsonnii: Phalaenopsis wilsonii anglais
the leaves on the wilsonnii are darker than those on the lobbii (I do not own one but I know many people that do) and tends to be longer, up to 3''.

Hope this helps.
And of course for a real identification flowers will be needed... Util then

[FairyInTheFlowers]

Hmmmm, I am undecided here. . . are the roots on the left plant flattened on one side? If they are, I would have to say that the left plant is lobbii, and the right, wilsonii.

[naoki]

I know that Cody knows well about phal species, but I'm guessing opposite. The right one seems to have darker green leaves and thicker roots. I have only 1 individual of each species, but the right one matched closer to P. lobbii, and smaller one matches to P. wilsonii.

GirlsGoneWild, I'm not sure if you should publicly admit this activity, you might want to edit your original post. I don't think CG went through the legal process. I'm not sure if these are ripped from wild populations, but lots of ebay sellers from China do it.

[FairyInTheFlowers]

Originally Posted by naoki

I know that Cody knows well about phal species, but I'm guessing opposite. The right one seems to have darker green leaves and thicker roots. I have only 1 individual of each species, but the right one matched closer to P. lobbii, and smaller one matches to P. wilsonii.

I was thinking the same thing as you, but for me, the roots on the left one look flattened, which leands me to lean towards to lobbii. Both lobbii I have have thick, but flattened roots. . .

[orchidsarefun]

the irony may well be that its ME who doesn't have a wilsonii. The one long leaf that's there is almost double the size mentioned on OrchidWiz/Bakers'

LEAVES: Number unknown. The tiny leaves are only 1 in. (2.5 cm) long. They are usually deciduous before flowering. In cultivation, plants may be healthier if the leaves are kept evergreen.

I will know for definite when it flowers ! And you will too ! LOL

[GirlGoneWild]

Originally Posted by naoki

GirlGoneWild, I'm not sure if you should publicly admit this activity, you might want to edit your original post. I don't think CG went through the legal process. I'm not sure if these are ripped from wild populations, but lots of ebay sellers from China do it.

Oh no!! I had no idea! Now I feel really bad. I don't want people ripping orchids from their habitats...that's awful! I will delete the reference to the seller so that they don't get more business out of this discussion...I don't want to be supporting a company that is not following proper procedure.

Thanks for letting me know.

[naoki]

Originally Posted by TheBlazingAugust

I was thinking the same thing as you, but for me, the roots on the left one look flattened, which leands me to lean towards to lobbii. Both lobbii I have have thick, but flattened roots. . .

Cody, I have seen the photos of your lobbii. But I forgot if they are mounted or not. It is true that P. wilsonii doesn't seem to show extreme flattening (like P. malipoensis). But mine becomes slightly flattened once the root is attached to the mount. On the other hand, my P. lobbii is in a pot, and they haver round root, so could the flattening of your P. lobbii root may be partly due to differences in the potting method?

Here is the photo of mine. mounted one is P. wilsonii. I notice that the back of leaves are different. P. wilsonii is purple. Do you notice something like this on yours, Cody?

[GirlGoneWild]

Originally Posted by naoki

GirlGoneWild, I'm not sure if you should publicly admit this activity, you might want to edit your original post. I don't think CG went through the legal process. I'm not sure if these are ripped from wild populations, but lots of ebay sellers from China do it.

I was so upset about this whole issue of ripping orchids out of wild populations that I went back to the website where I had purchased the orchids and read the descriptions again. The Lobbii is described as a "Rare Vietnamese Clone." So, if it's a clone, would it be safe to say it was grown in a lab and not ripped from the wild?

[FairyInTheFlowers]

Originally Posted by GirlGoneWild

I was so upset about this whole issue of ripping orchids out of wild populations that I went back to the website where I had purchased the orchids and read the descriptions again. The Lobbii is described as a "Rare Vietnamese Clone." So, if it's a clone, would it be safe to say it was grown in a lab and not ripped from the wild?

Hmmm, there is no way to prove that it is or isn't wild collected, so I don't think we should jump to conclusions here. People can use clone to refer to a specific plant, which means it could refer it something wild collected, a selfing of that specific plant, or something that was actually cloned in a labratory. It could also mean the same for something that is not wild collected.

[naoki]

Sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel bad about this. But the positive side is that you didn't get the warning letter, and the plants didn't go to the trash bin. Some of the people in the other forum also didn't know about the import rule, and got a letter (with plants confiscated).

Cody is right that it is difficult to tell. You could contact the seller, but you might be happier if you don't. In any case, you can grow them well, and propagate and distribute them. In this way, you are contributing to reduce harvesting pressure! I love the effort by https://lab.troymeyers.com/flasking/home.php These 2 species are not super rare in the US, but some people would appreciate your effort.