gastrochilus-sp

Orchids of this genus are considerable rarities and strangers to collections and they tend to puzzle botanical systematists. The shape of the flower in of the specimen the photo is ,as with other Gastrochilus orchids,typical of the all genus -their unusual brown-braided tepals are fleshy ,arched like a spoon , and their lip consists of a sacciform hypochilus and a fimbriated epichilus. The flower spike is rather unusually elongated . The main cultivation rules do not differ from those applied to the previous species . In the winter ,the plant requirs (as do other Gastrochilus orchids) a fairly short dormancy that can be induced by a careful reduction of temperature and cessation of watering . The plant in the picture blooms in the fall and comes from Thailand.