Renanthera Storiei

[david68]

Originally Posted by Lars Kurth

If you google image for R storei, you will find quite a few pictures that look like your plant: part of this is my fault. I only just started growing Renanthera then. When my plant flowered for the first time I got very excited and uploaded pictures to Wikipedia: it took a month for the experts to decide the picture was wrong. In that time the pictures got copied all over the web.

In any case: there is a lesson to be learned here

Lars

OK ... why not. But please demonstrate it because google images search isn't very convincing.
Actually the description of Kew Database and Orchidspecies IOSPE PHOTOS
aren't the same than you.

[Lars Kurth]

OK ... why not. But please demonstrate it because google images search isn't very convincing.
Actually the description of Kew Database and Orchidspecies IOSPE PHOTOS
aren't the same than you.

Actually, my point was that google image search shows up many wrong pictures. IOSPE is also not always right; but in most cases.

Botanicus.org: Curtis's botanical magazine. & Botanicus.org: Curtis's botanical magazine. contains the original description

Can you send as link to the article in the Kew Plant Database: storiei did not come up when I searched, also did not come up on JSTOR

Orchids of Asia says "... The plants are stout, with thick dark green leaves up to 20 cm long and 4 cm broad. The original strains with dark red flowers were tall-flowering, but a selfing in Singapore has produced short-flowering plants (flowering under 20cm tall). The flowers are dark red with crimson blotches on the lateral petals. In most plants, the lateral sepals have a wavy outline. The inflorescence is over a metre long, with side branches arranged in one plane, and may carry up to 150 blooms."

The plant I saw a few years back, actually got an AM/RHS award [ref: The Orchid Review 116: 294–295. Herbarium specimen (WSY0112281) in the RHS Herbarium (WSY) ]. I should have the copy somewhere, but can't find it )-:

It is of course possible that you have the short blooming cultivar, but I believe you should see the dark blotches in the lower sepals, the shape of the lip is quite distinctive and the plant should still be chunkier than most Renantheras. May well be that we are both right. Hard to tell on your picture, without a close-up of the flower. Note that there is also a purely yellow form of storiei.

You may also want to check this thread for a good picture

I have been looking for ages for the original storiei and managed to get a few seedlings recently: they are only 10 cm's tall, but the leaves have the typical dark leaves and are already 15cm's long and very wide. So I am hopeful, but will probably have to wait for a few years for the first flowers.

Hope this helped
Lars