Dear All Some how I missed your orchid. Neil Sir, your orchid is not Nervilia aragoana for sure but what Sweedle has provided is 100% N. aragoana. Sweedle is also an Orchidologist on the group so she cant go wrong so easily. Nervilia genus can be divided into three sections: Section Linervia: Inflorescence with 1 flower Section Vinerfia: Inflorescence with 2 flower Section Nervilia: Inflorescence with multiple flower
Dr. Neil's pic is for sure in normal condition and bearing single flower. Sweedle's pic is multiflowered: with green petals and sepals and lip all points to a typical Nervilia aragoana. So the question is what is Dr. Neil's plant. Nervilia infundibulifolia is supposed to have papillose ridges on the lip which I cant see in the pic. There is another orchid very similar to this, Nervilia falcata, it has single glandular pubescent line running from the base of the lip till the tip. That is also not visible. It can be a slightly deformed flower lacking these characters, not a big deal. Some more closeup shots should be helpful. The image of Nervilia infundibulifolia in Sathish Pande et al. book on Orchids of Northern western Ghats shows dry flower and hence identity cant be confirmed from atleast that particular pic. Thanks a lot for sharing. Regards Pankaj
