Vandopirea (Phal) Little One and Family

[Roberta]

I'm putting this in the Vanda forum, even though all of the plants are now classified as Phalaenopsis. Maybe at the genetic level they are, but they don't grow that way.

This was the moment I was waiting for... Vandopirea (Phalaenopsis) Little One and both of its parents, Hygrochilus (Vandopsis) parishii (now Phalaenopsis hygrochila) and Sedirea (Phalaenopsis) japonica are in bloom at the same time. So here is a "family portrait"... alas, I lost all but one flower (had 2 spikes) on Little One (lower left), and a few flowers on Sedirea japonica (lower right) due to a massive thrip attack , Hygrochilus parishii (upper right) is just opening. They all grow on my patio, outdoors all year (so all are cold-tolerant down to 40 deg. F /4 deg C or lower)

Hygrochilus parishii (Phal. hygrochila) is a big plant, and a root machine. Vandopirea (Phal.) Little One also has a vigorous root system. Sedirea (Phal) japonica is smaller, grows on a bare mount.

So here is the "family portrait" and some better photos of the individuals from prior blooms. You can see that Little One looks a lot like the Hygrochilus parent, but the size is brought down by the Sedirea japonica. The genera of all of them got totally messed up, hopefully you can make sense of the actual plants here.

[SADE2020]

Extraordinary @Roberta... Love it!
My 3 favorite Phals... I didn't know about the classification, learning something everyday.

[Roberta]

Thanks! Part of what drove the reclassifications, I think, is a desire by taxonomists to eliminate monotypic (one species) genera. So Sedirea japonica was all by itself, therefore a candidate for lumping. Hygrochilus has just a few species, parishii is the main one, the relationships are messy. So that was another candidate. That they were in these small genera to begin with says to me that they really aren't closely related to anything else. Unfortunately, the choice of Phalaenopsis to lump them (and some other Vandaceous genera) into really obscures what is important to those of us who actually grow them (as opposed to just writing about them), their GROWING CONDITIONS.

[Dusty Ol' Man]

I was reading about siderea japonica earlier today and found a site that stated 'siderea is the backward spelling of aerides, it's TRUE genus.' I found that interesting.

[Keysguy]

Interesting Roberta.
Here is my Little One a couple of months ago.
Maybe it's just the angle of the photographs but your leaves look more "vanda like" while mine seem a little more "Phal like".

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by Keysguy

Interesting Roberta.
Here is my Little One a couple of months ago.
Maybe it's just the angle of the photographs but your leaves look more "vanda like" while mine seem a little more "Phal like".

My leaves actually do look pretty much like that, maybe was camera angle - it's not as 'rangy' as the Hygrochilus parent which really looks like a Vanda. Mine is a root-monster that is rather Vanda like.

---------- Post added at 04:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:12 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Dusty Ol' Man

I was reading about siderea japonica earlier today and found a site that stated 'siderea is the backward spelling of aerides, it's TRUE genus.' I found that interesting.

It is indeed backwards Aerides... that's how I check the spelling to get the "i" and the second "e" in the right places. Except that it fell to the "no monotypic genera" rule... so now it's Phalaenopsis. Not nearly as much fun.