For part two of the fragrance series this summer (part one), I am pleased to present this lovely Phalaenopsis violacea var. coerulea. A warm growing species from Malaysia and Sumatra where it grows at an altitude of about 150 meters. The fragrance of my close is not super strong, but it is definitely noticeable, especially when it is warm during the day. As pleasant as the fragrance is, I am actually more in love with the elegant shape of the waxy flowers and the light violet hues on the cream base, which is the defining color for the coerulea variety. Especially nice is the faint purple striping on the lateral sepals near the center of the flower, so be sure to look at the enlarged version of the photo. On my name tag it says “var. coerulea”, but I wonder if it should not be “f. coerulea” instead, as I do believe the color difference to be a form not a variety. Thoughts on this?
I grow it in the intermediate/warm vivarium, potted in EpiWeb substrate, fairly low light and high humidity. My plant usually blooms faithfully twice a year, late summer and early spring, and each inflorescence carry several flowers in succession and usually re-bloom for several seasons before dying back.
Phalaenopsis violacea H.Witte, Fl. Jard. 4: 129 (1861).
beautiful, mine is putting a spike right now too. Have you also noticed that it does put on a slightly different blue shade according to the season? At least mine does.
Thank you! 🙂 No, I have not reflected on a color change before, but now I am curious… I will check on that in the spring.