Noid that never completely opens petals
 

Howdy folks, what I have is noid (big box store) that appears to be doing great however as you can see in the picture the petals never open all the way. It was like this when I bought it and I thought it was just in the process of opening. The original blooms eventually faded and new blooms have now grown and the same cupping of the petals exists. If this is normal then maybe it is odd enough that someone can ID it for me. I also included a picture of the plant as well and if you look closely you will see some purple or maroon ting to the leaves. I know that this is a sign of too much light however, none of the others in this area show this coloration.

Thanks a million

I hope someone can help you with an explanation. Sometimes, when buying a seed-grown orchid, it is due to breeding problems but most of the big-box store orchids are clones. So...no idea.

Dub, I'm not seeing a photo?

---------- Post added at 01:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:59 PM ----------

Oh, re-loaded the thread, now I'm seeing the photo.

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The petals resemble the lip, indicating the flowers are peloric. I think the flowers will always be this way.

I had one like this (different color) and yes it will stay this way. i was like you and kept thinking it should open. I didn't like it and I killed it anyway, sometimes I think I did it on purpose, now how mean is that?????

And after it died I saw some on sights that were like this and so I knew it was not just mine. I of course didn't know it was peloric. I didn't know what that was till I got on this sight.

What does peloric mean?

Hey,

I have one like this also.Thought the same thing you did that the flowers just hadn't opened yet. I am hoping someone with more experience can explain this. Looks like you have some very beautiful phals blooming there.

What does peloric mean?

Peloric means that there is a mutation and often the petals will look like the lip. It can make for some beautiful flowers but then some become more like yours and just don't open.

Yup, it has some peloric trait, making the petals stay like that. I have a peloric Phal, where the petals are perfect imitations of the lip (I call the Phal "the mutant" because of this), and while it never opens completely, like yours, since it has three lips, it doesn't bother me as much.

Here's a picture of my little mutant:

http://www.neovita.com/orkideer/bild...48033.orig.jpg