Gorgeous looking orchids. Looks like you've really got the Orchid Bug
The condition for the closed petals is peloric. OK, hopefully I've got this right... this is my understanding...
The three open ones are actually called sepals, a phal has 3 sepals, two petals, and a lip. The sepals are actually the bud, but unlike on some plants where the sepals just shrink back from the petals inside when it opens, on orchids they are a main part of the flower and on phals usually coloured the same as the petals. On some orchids such as Masdevallia the sepals are actually the only part of the flower and the petals and lip are almost invisible.
Anyway that's a bit of background, another feature of orchids is the lip which is a modified petal. In some mutations the other two petals take on some of the characteristics of the lip, either to a small or larger extent. At it's extreme a phal can have three lips and three sepals. Often if they are curled in like on yours they also have some 'structure' to the shape of the petal, nodules where the surface would usually be smooth. In some what you see is colour of the lip in the petals, in others it's more in the shape... and as I said before they can completely mimic the lip.
Some peloric phals will revert to blooming normally next time, sometimes only one or two flowers show the feature, sometimes all are the same. Sometimes the condition is persistent on a particular plant and it will always flower that way. Many people really like them for their different look and like the persistent peloric phals. Most if not all peloric phals will have other plants of the same hybrid which are not peloric.
Hybrid Mode
