Amitostigma keiskei - Orchid Board

littlefrog · #1 05-23-2011, 08:49 PM

I've been judging for a long time... And doing shows for even longer (20+ years). I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like these before. I was stunned. They are awesome and incredibly cute. When I saw them I almost thought they were plastic, and the next guess was, "what idiot brings non-orchids to orchid judging?". These are orchids, I'm the idiot.

I know next to nothing about these. The exhibitor (Hideki Kobayashi - if I remember the name right - no guarantees and I apologize in advance) told me they were Japanese, terrestrial, and easy to grow (for him). Must be, he brought almost a dozen of them. Four were awarded. My pictures will not do them justice, you'll have to wait for the award photos.

If I ever see these for sale, I will be hard pressed not to mortgage the house.

JCombadao · #2 05-23-2011, 09:10 PM

Yes, they are great.

Although not common in cultivation, they are known by some of the terrestrial orchid people here in Europe.

Glad to see them in this forum.

WhiteRabbit · #3 05-23-2011, 09:31 PM

oh my!

love these!

Andrew · #4 05-24-2011, 12:24 AM

Great little orchids. Were they awarded for botanical merit, culture or quality?

littlefrog · #5 05-24-2011, 12:30 AM

I wasn't on the team, but I believe they were quality awards.

Rob

Zoi2 · #6 05-24-2011, 12:45 AM

I can see why you thought "plastic", they are perfect plants. Please post the vender if you find one.
Joann

King_of_orchid_growing:) · #7 05-24-2011, 01:04 AM

These are not common in cultivation here in the US.

They can be seen floating around here and there on rare occasions.

This species has several different cultivars in the trade.

If I'm not mistaken, the wild form is rare in the trade.

Habenaria relatives.

lambelkip · #8 05-24-2011, 01:23 AM

His name is Hideka Kobayashi, and he occasionally sells plants on ebay (user id sanyasoh). I got most of my Amitostigmas from him. See my other posts (here and here) for the ones that bloomed this spring.
Hideka won two CHMs for Amitostigma lepidum plants earlier this year. The photos are on the Cincinnati Judging Center website.

Paul · #9 05-24-2011, 09:15 PM

Oh my! Those are adorable!

Tindomul · #10 05-26-2011, 12:12 PM

Very nice. Look more like mints or Lobelias than orchids.