This is one of by absolute favorite Phalaenopsis species. It is a hot growing epiphyte/litofyphyte found accross Indo-China to western Malesia and Philippines where it grows at altitudes of 200 to 1000 meters. The common name is the deer antlered Phalaenopsis, and you can kind of see why although some clones have much more pronounced antler shaped petals than mine.
The shape of the flowers and the high gloss waxy appearance is what I really like best about this species. I have both the flava color form and a really nice clone with a lot more red in it than the regular P. cornu-cervi. I would love to get a hold of the really nice dark purple thalebanii color form as well. Although I suppose that the accepted name for all the color forms really should be Phalaenopsis cornu-cervi (Breda)… Blume & Rchb.f., Hamburger Garten- Blumenzeitung 16: 116 (1860)…. but then how do you keep the different color forms straight? I must admit that I am a bit confused about homotypic synonyms and heterotypic synonyms and naming. Well, in either case, both my color forms are blooming right now in the warm viv and I love it.
I must say how impressed with your information. I live in the US and I thought I had seen most of the hybrid Phals by now. But the world is a big place. thank you so much for this blog,and congradulations on Your spirited experimentations.
Thank you Rick for the very kind words. It is nice to hear that you enjoy my blog. 🙂 I think it is the incredible difference among orchids and the endless experimentations in how to grow the countless species that makes the orchid hobby so fascinating.
By the way, Phalaenopsis cornu-cervi is not a hybrid, it is a pure species from Southeast Asia. It comes in a few different color forms, the two I grow is the f. flava and f. red. A form is a sporadically occurring natural mutations that can sometimes be found within the broad population of the species. For some reason Kew has decided not to recognize these differences (formas) as accepted names, but it is still widely used among growers as the attributes are definite selling points and as a buyer I would definitely like to know if I am getting the red form or the flava from for example.