Phal with 4 pollinia?

[escualida]

Hi all, I was just collecting pollen from one of my Phals and noticed that there were four pollinia coming from each flower. Here is a picture, I have a point-and-shoot so it's not the best quality, but I think you can see it well enough.



Is this normal or common? I tried to Google it but found nothing on it.

Edit: found some info on it, looks like some types of phals just have 4 pollinia. Still think it's interesting.

[Call_Me_Bob]

Which did it come from? Some do, as you have found out, have four pollinia. Species from the subgenera Proboscidioides, Aphyllae, and Parishianae have four pollinia.

[escualida]

It came from Dtps. Sharon Schay 'Wolfsong'

[naoki]

I believe that Phalaenopsis which used to be in Doritis and Kingidium (some species in the subgenera which Bob mentioned) have 4 pollinia. I don't know anything about hybrid phals, but it is probably inherited from Phal. pulcherrima.

Here are species with 4 pollinia:
Aphyllae: wilsonii, braceana, minus etc.
Proboscidioies: lowii
Parishianae: appendiculata, gibbosa, lobbii, malipoense, parishii
Subgenus Phalaenopsis, Section Deliciosae: chibae, deliciosa, mysorensis
Subgenus Phalaenopsis, Section Esmeralda: pulcherrima etc.

p.10-11 of the following book mentions this:

Orchid Biotechnology Two - Google Books

[bazinga]

Great picture. Thanks for posting it!

[Island Girl]

+1^ that's a really cool pic! Thanks for posting!

And I was just reading about Phal sp. with two & four pollina: (Basically the same as what Bob & Naoki were saying) The second Section: "Pollinia" (< I know, spelling Lol) is what I'm referring to: Similar Species and Species Complex of Phalaenopsis

It is a great site, if u haven't discovered it yet... This is the main site (in English): Phalaenopsis species

[orchidsarefun]

Originally Posted by escualida

It came from Dtps. Sharon Schay 'Wolfsong'

I have never been able to get this to "take". Hope you were successful as its a nice bloom colour.