New Vanda merilliis

[nikkik]

I received an order of orchids today and I am so excited about these particular 2 from my order, Vanda merrillii and Vanda merrillii (dwarf form). I already have Vanda merrillii var rotorii, which is currently in spike. Obviously, I love the merrillii.

The Vanda merrillii (dwarf form) I have also seen referenced as Vanda merrillii var compactum. I have not come across any proof that this varietal name is acceptable.

The story behind this form is that it came out of the Philippines one time. It has not been seen or found again since then. In the additional research I've done there are 3 possible explanations: 1) a natural occurring hybrid; 2) a mutation in the regular form of V. merrillii; and 3) it is a completely different species that resembles a V. merrillii. The cool thing about it is it gets a terminal spike when it flowers, it will then put out a keiki and continues on with this growth pattern. Eventually, the plant is a big clump that can be divided.

My Vanda merrillii (dwarf form):[COLOR="Silver"]

[nikkik]

This is the V. merrillii

[eant]

I must say that those plants are gorgeous!!! Nice find!

[nikkik]

Originally Posted by eant

I must say that those plants are gorgeous!!! Nice find!

Thank you!!

[Bud]

You have a very nice find.
You are lucky to have found the dwarf too.
Although in the near future as other members here have reported that it will grow as big as the regular merrilii but the flowers will always be smaller than the normal Vanda.
Both will have fragrance early in the morning and goes away by noon, the flowers are waxy with yummy colors.
It is endemic to the northern Luzon island of the Philippines where it was heavily harvested to almost extinction yet there is a state University botanical lab on that same island ( UP Los bagnios, Laguna) where it is flasked and propagated= this is the same lab I got my Euanthe sanderiana that is now 11 yrs old....
I got my merrilii from a grower in Florida, but I want the dwarf as well since I don't have it in my collection.

---------- Post added at 12:26 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:13 AM ----------

Please correct your title: its Vanda merrilii. Two r's and no 's' at the end of merrilii.

I found : Vanda merrillii var. rotori ‘Mary Motes’
that is officially registered but I didn't find Vanda merrilii 'dwarf' nor Vanda merrilii var compactum as officially registered although it is referred to in an article in Singapore and the dwarf was referred to in an American forum.

[nikkik]

Originally Posted by Bud

You have a very nice find.
You are lucky to have found the dwarf too.
Although in the near future as other members here have reported that it will grow as big as the regular merrilii but the flowers will always be smaller than the normal Vanda.
Both will have fragrance early in the morning and goes away by noon, the flowers are waxy with yummy colors.
It is endemic to the northern Luzon island of the Philippines where it was heavily harvested to almost extinction yet there is a state University botanical lab on that same island ( UP Los bagnios, Laguna) where it is flasked and propagated= this is the same lab I got my Euanthe sanderiana that is now 11 yrs old....
I got my merrilii from a grower in Florida, but I want the dwarf as well since I don't have it in my collection.

---------- Post added at 12:26 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:13 AM ----------

Please correct your title: its Vanda merrilii. Two r's and no 's' at the end of merrilii.

I found : Vanda merrillii var. rotori ‘Mary Motes’
that is officially registered but I didn't find Vanda merrilii 'dwarf' nor Vanda merrilii var compactum as officially registered although it is referred to in an article in Singapore and the dwarf was referred to in an American forum.

I found my other Vanda merrillii var rotori from a Flordia grower too, but it took lots of calls to find one. And I must admit that my Vanda merrillii is a little leggy compared to the other vandas in my collection. The waxy flowers and the color is what drew me to this plant. Plus, I love its leaves.

Thanks for the catch in the title, I didn't realize I forgot the second 'r'. I put the 's' at the end because I was referring to two new plants, but I can see how it adds confusion.

Note: It won't let me edit the title, only create a new one underneath.

---------- Post added at 07:18 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:33 AM ----------

Bud, I forgot to mention in the previous reply, when I spoke to the grower about the dwarf form he said the flowers are the exact same size as the regular form of V. merrillii, but less per a spike. The one pictured has already bloomed and is working on a very tiny keiki, so far it looks like individual plants will stay small, but grow wide instead of tall because of its clumping growth habits, which is also what the grower described to me when we spoke about it.

I guess only time will tell because there is a lot of mystery and contradictory information about the growth habits of this plant online.

[Chatbud]

Oooh, this is a strapped-leaf vanda which shouldn't get pelted by direct sun?

[nikkik]

Originally Posted by Chatbud

Oooh, this is a strapped-leaf vanda which shouldn't get pelted by direct sun?

Very confused by the comment because the picture was taken when the box was being unpacked that is not the permanent position of the plant. As my pervious posts have stated my vandas are under my trees or in my solarium.

And when others post new plants that they're proud of the get hoorays and nice comments no matter if the picture is on the sun on the ground or in their sink. My plant is in the sun for literally a few minutes and I'm questioned as if it's my first vanda. I'm sorry for posting plants I was happy to have just unpacked.

[WhiteRabbit]

Nice

[Chatbud]

Originally Posted by nikkik

Very confused by the comment because the picture was taken when the box was being unpacked that is not the permanent position of the plant. As my pervious posts have stated my vandas are under my trees or in my solarium.

And when others post new plants that they're proud of the get hoorays and nice comments no matter if the picture is on the sun on the ground or in their sink. My plant is in the sun for literally a few minutes and I'm questioned as if it's my first vanda. I'm sorry for posting plants I was happy to have just unpacked.

Oh, sorry!
Think I didn't read your 1st few posts in detail.

I guess when everyone goes into a new thread the 1st thing to do is to click on pics! lol
The 2nd pic kinda jolted me a little.

Sorry again - cos I just went to 1 of our local orchid farms over the weekend and finally cleared up all these terete, semi-, quarter-t, strap stuff.

Basically, farm owner says the broader/wider the leaf the lesser its light requirement cos the broad leaf absorbs light easily compared to, say, our national flower (full-terete) which has these pointed/needle-like foliage and which really needs to be hit daily by direct sun.

So when I saw the 2nd pic I was thinking ooohh, hope all that brightness doesn't come with heat, like a noon-day sun