Hi Mike Your suspicions are justified. Those bright pink Calanthes being sold under the tag "Calanthe vestitia" (and sometimes "Calanthe rubens") are not the true McCoy. Very large quantities appeared on the S.E.Asian market late last year, reportedly originating in Australia ... maybe some of OGD's Oz readers can comment on this. They were mostly sold in the form of sphagnum-filled plastic pots containing a single large pseudobulb with an inflorescence.... they were clearly very well-grown and healthy. Several different colour forms were on sale; the ones I saw were either all-pink, all-red or all-crimson, or bicoloured with a red to crimson lip and column, and pink or white tepals. In all cases the callus was dark crimson. The nurserymen I spoke to said there was a pink-flushed white colour form as well.
Calanthe vestitia has white flowers with a gold, orange or bright red callus. In some specimens the lip is flushed rosy pink ... the sepals and petals are never bright pink, red or crimson, and the callus is never deep crimson. The lip shape is the best guide; C. vestitia has a 3-lobed lip in which the deeply bilobed midlobe is only slightly longer than the sidelobes; the midlobe points along the flower axis, and the sidelobes curve inwards towards this axis, so all three lobes end up pointing in roughly the same direction. The hybrid has larger flowers than C. vestitia, and the midlobe extends well beyond the sidelobe tips because the sidelobes are directed outwards almost at right angles to the flower axis. I have no idea if the hybrid is Calanthe William Murray.... you'll have to talk to someone who knows hybrids. Cheers, Peter O'Byrne in Singapore ------------------------------------------------------------------- In South Africa, where we unfortunately don't have the advantage of experts to guide us, there is a perception that the pink (and I mean pink not blush) Calanthes that are labelled as Calanthe vestita are in fact the hybrid Calanthe William Murray. I have checked the books available to me and they all say that the flowers are white or blush pink. what is the verdict from those growers from the areas where Calanthe vestita is found growing naturally? _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [email protected] http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
