Borneophals list updates

I have not updated the borneophals species list in a while because there has not been too much activity. Since the last update, I lost a Phal. maculata and a Phal. pantherina, but managed to reacquired another Phal. pantherina plus a very small seedling of Phal. doweryensis for the collection. Other species that have been acquired are Coelogyne odoardi (endemic to Borneo) and Sarcochilus falcatus (endemic to Australia).

This past month has seen a few nice bloomings including a first bloom from an 'Amami Island' Neofinetia falcata. This plant was left outside for a month in the California "winter", but brought in when temperatures dropped below 35F. It appears that this treatment is enough to induce blooms in the summer which are very fragrant at night. It's a delightful species, and I can definitely understand the current obsession for this species, especially with its long history in Japan.

Neofinetia falcata

Borneo Phalaenopsis species list

Species	Distribution
Phalaenopsis amabilis	Borneo, Indonesia, Australia, Papua New Guinea
Phalaenopsis appendiculata	Borneo, West Malaysia
Phalaenopsis bellina	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis borneensis	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis cochlearis	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis corningiana	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis cornu-cervi	Borneo, Indonesia, Burma, Thailand
Phalaenopsis deliciosa	Borneo, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Philippines
Phalaenopsis doweryensis	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis fimbriata	Borneo, Indonesia
Phalaenopsis fuscata	Borneo, West Malaysia, Philippines
Phalaenopsis gigantea	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis lamelligera	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis maculata	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis mariae	Borneo, Philippines
Phalaenopsis modesta	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis pantherina	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis rundumensis	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis sumatrana	Borneo, Indonesia, Burma, Thailand

- Species highlighted green are the ones I currently have in the collection.

Other orchid species from Borneo in the collection

Species	Distribution
Cymbidium ensifolium	Widespread, including Borneo
Coelogyne odoardi	Endemic to Borneo
Dyakia hendersoniana	Endemic to Borneo
Paphiopedilum kolopakingii	Endemic to Borneo
Paphiopedilum lowii	Borneo, West Malaysia, Indonesia
Paphiopedilum rothschildianum	Endemic to Borneo
Paphiopedilum sanderianum	Endemic to Borneo
Paphiopedilum stonei	Endemic to Borneo
Paraphalaenopsis labukensis	Endemic to Borneo
Pteroceras hirsutum	Endemic to Borneo

Other Phalaenopsis species in the collection

Species	Distribution
Phalaenopsis lindenii	Phillipines
Phalaenopsis javanica	Indonesia
Phalaenopsis speciosa	Nicobar Islands
Phalaenopsis stuartuania	Phillipines
Phalaenopsis violacea	West Malaysia

Other orchid species in the collection

Species	Distribution
Bulbophyllum lasiochilum	West Malaysia, Thailand, Burma
Cymbidium goeringii	India, Bhutan, China, Taiwan, Japan
Neofinetia falcata	China, Korea, Japan
Sarcochilus falcatus	Endemic to Australia

Phalaenopsis, Paphiopedilum and other orchid species from Borneo

This orchid list has slowly morphed into an assortment of species from Borneo, but is still heavy on the genus Phalaenopsis. The recent visit to Redland 2015 was a success and I have now added Phalaenopsis fimbriata and Phalaenopsis sumatrana to the collection! Phal species from other regions were also acquired recently so there is now a separate list for these as well. It would be nice to have a representative of each Phalaenopsis species in the collection at some point, but there remains a space constraint for the time being.

A phal currently in flower is this Phalaenopsis appendiculata. The spike from last year had been removed recently and the new spike that emerged is more floriferous than before. A selfing was made because it is still quite a rare species in cultivation and this particular plant has pretty nice saturated magenta petals and lips. Unlike the other phal species that I've worked with, the pollinia from this species is colored white and has a very soft texture.

Phalaenopsis appendiculata

I've also been slowly accumulating more Paphiopedilum species because they are generally a lot more forgiving than Phalaenopsis in the current setup. Besides Phalaenopsis and Paphiopedilum, I'm also keeping my eye out for other genera endemic to Borneo, especially ones that are scented and are able to do well along with phals and paphs. A recent addition is Pteroceras hirsutum that I also picked up at Redland 2015.

A short entry on Bulbophyllum

Despite the fact that genus Bulbophyllum is the largest genus in the orchid world and most likely on Borneo as well, I have yet to acquire one from this region. However, I do have Bulbophyllum lasiochilum currently in flower, which is a species that is typically distributed through West Malaysia, Thailand and Burma. It is the larger, darker form of this species and an easy grower. The best part about bulbos are their weird morphology and this species has a very interesting hirsute, hinged lip with a double movement when physically moved.

Bulbophyllum lasiochilum

Borneo Phalaenopsis species list

Species	Distribution
Phalaenopsis amabilis	Borneo, Indonesia, Australia, Papua New Guinea
Phalaenopsis appendiculata	Borneo, West Malaysia
Phalaenopsis bellina	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis borneensis	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis cochlearis	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis corningiana	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis cornu-cervi	Borneo, Indonesia, Burma, Thailand
Phalaenopsis deliciosa	Borneo, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Philippines
Phalaenopsis doweryensis	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis fimbriata	Borneo, Indonesia
Phalaenopsis fuscata	Borneo, West Malaysia, Philippines
Phalaenopsis gigantea	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis lamelligera	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis maculata	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis mariae	Borneo, Philippines
Phalaenopsis modesta	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis pantherina	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis rundumensis	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis sumatrana	Borneo, Indonesia, Burma, Thailand

- Species highlighted green are the ones I currently have in the collection.

Other orchid species from Borneo in the collection

Species	Distribution
Cymbidium ensifolium	Widespread, including Borneo
Dyakia hendersoniana	Endemic to Borneo
Paphiopedilum kolopakingii	Endemic to Borneo
Paphiopedilum lowii	Borneo, West Malaysia, Indonesia
Paphiopedilum rothschildianum	Endemic to Borneo
Paphiopedilum sanderianum	Endemic to Borneo
Paphiopedilum stonei	Endemic to Borneo
Paraphalaenopsis labukensis	Endemic to Borneo
Pteroceras hirsutum	Endemic to Borneo

Other Phalaenopsis species in the collection

Species	Distribution
Phalaenopsis lindenii	Phillipines
Phalaenopsis javanica	Indonesia
Phalaenopsis speciosa	Nicobar Islands
Phalaenopsis stuartuania	Phillipines
Phalaenopsis violacea	West Malaysia

Other orchid species in the collection

Species	Distribution
Bulbophyllum lasiochilum	West Malaysia, Thailand, Burma
Cymbidium goeringii	India, Bhutan, China, Taiwan, Japan
Vanda falcata	China, Korea, Japan

Added more endemic orchid species to Borneo

The grow space is now filling up at a faster rate than I thought, not surprisingly.. Among the additions are Dyakia hendersoniana, Paphiopedilum stonei and Paphiopedilum kolopakingii which are all species endemic to Borneo. I have also acquired a few different cultivars of Phalaenopsis bellina and Phalaenopsis corningiana. Very excited about their potential blooms. There are also other non-Bornean phal species in the mix that are not listed as well as a fair number of primary hybrids. More on these next time.

Borneo Phalaenopsis species list 007

Species	Distribution
Phalaenopsis amabilis	Borneo, Indonesia, Australia, Papua New Guinea
Phalaenopsis appendiculata	Borneo, West Malaysia
Phalaenopsis bellina	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis borneensis	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis cochlearis	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis corningiana	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis cornu-cervi	Borneo, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand
Phalaenopsis deliciosa	Borneo, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Philippines
Phalaenopsis doweryensis	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis fimbriata	Borneo, Indonesia
Phalaenopsis fuscata	Borneo, West Malaysia, Philippines
Phalaenopsis gigantea	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis lamelligera	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis maculata	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis mariae	Borneo, Philippines
Phalaenopsis modesta	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis pantherina	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis rundumensis	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis sumatrana	Borneo, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand

- Species highlighted green are the ones I currently have growing.

Other orchid species from Borneo

Species	Distribution
Phaphiopedilum rothschildianum	Endemic to Borneo
Phaphiopedilum sanderianum	Endemic to Borneo
Phaphiopedilum stonei	Endemic to Borneo
Phaphiopedilum kolopakingii	Endemic to Borneo
Phaphiopedilum lowii	Borneo, West Malaysia, Indonesia
Paraphalaenopsis labukensis	Endemic to Borneo
Dyakia hendersoniana	Endemic to Borneo

Phalaenopsis borneensis, appendiculata and lists

It has been over a year since the Borneophals Phalaenopsis species collection activity began and I'm happy to say it has been steady progress up to this point, thanks to breeders and other collectors that have kept each species going. The most recent notable addition from the list below is the namesake of the island that inspired this blog, Phalaenopsis borneensis. I'm looking forward to try to coax a spike out of this species but as I've said, I found my conditions to be a little challenging for the Cornu-cervi species complex unfortunately. There's been some discussion on whether Phalaenopsis lamelligera is just Phalaenopsis cornu-cervi, so this species may be removed from this list. Lastly, I also managed to acquire a Phalaenopsis appendiculata, which is still quite rare in cultivation.

Two more non-phal additions are Paphiopedilum sanderianum and Paphiopedilum lowii because they happen to be the two species of slippers from Borneo that I think are quite distinctive and may take a while to get established. I felt comfortable to include these in the expanded grow space, and from what I've gathered, they should be relatively easy to grow.

Borneo Phalaenopsis species list 007

Species	Distribution
Phalaenopsis amabilis	Borneo, Indonesia, Australia, Papua New Guinea
Phalaenopsis appendiculata	Borneo, West Malaysia
Phalaenopsis bellina	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis borneensis	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis cochlearis	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis corningiana	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis cornu-cervi	Borneo, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand
Phalaenopsis deliciosa	Borneo, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Philippines
Phalaenopsis doweryensis	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis fimbriata	Borneo, Indonesia
Phalaenopsis fuscata	Borneo, West Malaysia, Philippines
Phalaenopsis gigantea	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis lamelligera	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis maculata	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis mariae	Borneo, Philippines
Phalaenopsis modesta	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis pantherina	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis rundumensis	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis sumatrana	Borneo, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand

- Species highlighted green are the ones I currently have growing.

Other orchid species from Borneo

Species	Distribution
Paphiopedilum rothschildianum	Endemic to Borneo
Paphiopedilum sanderianum	Endemic to Borneo
Paphiopedilum lowii	Borneo, West Malaysia, Indonesia
Paraphalaenopsis labukensis	Endemic to Borneo

New addition: Phalaenopsis maculata

I have been holding back on new purchases lately, but this week I gave in, owing to the fact that Oakhill Gardens have had two species that is on the borneophals list below for a while now and I'd be disappointed if they were sold out. One of them is Phal. maculata as the post title suggests, and the other is another Phal. amabilis but of the grandiflora form as opposed to the one that I have now, which is supposedly the 'Sabah' form. I have yet to flower any amabilis in the grow area to confirm it, but I think this species generally sulk before they finally acclimate.

There was a great update from on Phal. rundumensis on the ranwild.org phal grower's website. Click on this link to access the article where they did side by side comparisons between Phal. doweryensis and Phal. rundumensis, which is quite compelling. Here's a screenshot of the images of the two phals. It would be great to initiate a sequencing effort for all the phal species and clarify their relationship between each other.

Borneo Phalaenopsis species list 006

Species	Distribution
Phalaenopsis amabilis	Borneo, Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan, Australia
Phalaenopsis appendiculata	Borneo, West Malaysia
Phalaenopsis bellina	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis borneensis	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis cochlearis	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis corningiana	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis cornu-cervi	Borneo, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand
Phalaenopsis deliciosa	Borneo, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Philippines
Phalaenopsis doweryensis	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis fimbriata	Borneo, Indonesia
Phalaenopsis fuscata	Borneo, West Malaysia, Philippines
Phalaenopsis gigantea	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis lamelligera	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis maculata	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis mariae	Borneo, Philippines
Phalaenopsis modesta	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis pantherina	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis rundumensis	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis sumatrana	Borneo, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand

- Species highlighted green are the ones I currently have.

Borneo Phalaenopsis species list update

This month, I discovered that a new phal species endemic to Borneo named Phalaenopsis rundumensis was described in 2011. It looks very similar to Phal. doweryensis to me but the raised spots on the greenish overlay is really quite cool (see the picture below).

I've added this species to the borneophals list. In addition, I have acquired Phal. fuscata recently as the newest member of this collection which is growing fast to the limits of my grow space. When the fuscata flowers, I will be very very tempted to make a cross with a bellina to remake Phal. Fuscabell. This is perhaps one of the most intriguing looking primary out there. I also bought another bellina along with the fuscata, mostly because one can never have too many bellinas!

Photograph of Phal. rundumensis from the Swiss Orchid Foundation.

Borneo Phalaenopsis species list 005

Species	Distribution
Phalaenopsis amabilis	Borneo, Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan, Australia
Phalaenopsis appendiculata	Borneo, West Malaysia
Phalaenopsis bellina	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis borneensis	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis cochlearis	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis corningiana	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis cornu-cervi	Borneo, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand
Phalaenopsis deliciosa	Borneo, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Philippines
Phalaenopsis doweryensis	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis fimbriata	Borneo, Indonesia
Phalaenopsis fuscata	Borneo, West Malaysia, Philippines
Phalaenopsis gigantea	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis lamelligera	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis maculata	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis mariae	Borneo, Philippines
Phalaenopsis modesta	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis pantherina	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis rundumensis	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis sumatrana	Borneo, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand

- Species highlighted green are the ones I currently have.

Other endemic orchid species

Species	Distribution
Phaphiopedilum rothschildianum	Endemic to Borneo
Paraphalaenopsis labukensis	Endemic to Borneo

New additions

Instead of mourning the death of my N0442 Phal bellina 'Ponkan AM/AOS' x 'Fifi' seedling from Orchidview, I decided to do two things - improve growing conditions by installing T5 grow lights and obtain more orchids (naturally). The surviving Phal bellina seedling I have is a standard form bellina from Oak Hill Gardens but this isn't quite enough after losing the Orchidview seedling. In light of this, I managed to snag var coerulea and var alba bellinas to keep the surviving seedling company. I also have standard form Phal deliciosa, Phal pantherina and Phal cornu-cervi coming my way next week so it'll be a good day when that happens!

These new species additions are now reflected on the list. I've included a list of other orchid species from various genera that are endemic to Borneo that I currently have growing with the phals.

Borneo Phalaenopsis species list 004

Species	Distribution
Phalaenopsis amabilis	Borneo, Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan, Australia
Phalaenopsis appendiculata	Borneo, West Malaysia
Phalaenopsis bellina	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis borneensis	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis cochlearis	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis corningiana	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis cornu-cervi	Borneo, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand
Phalaenopsis deliciosa	Borneo, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Philippines
Phalaenopsis doweryensis	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis fimbriata	Borneo, Indonesia
Phalaenopsis fuscata	Borneo, West Malaysia, Philippines
Phalaenopsis gigantea	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis lamelligera	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis maculata	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis mariae	Borneo, Philippines
Phalaenopsis modesta	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis pantherina	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis sumatrana	Borneo, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand

- Species highlighted green are the ones I currently have.

Other endemic orchid species

Species	Distribution
Paphiopedilum rothschildianum	Endemic to Borneo
Paraphalaenopsis labukensis	Endemic to Borneo

Phalaenopsis species endemic to Borneo

It is true that Borneo harbors many endemic orchid species and fortunately, this is no exception for the genus Phalaenopsis. Geographic isolation, being the third largest island in the world and relatively calm climate-wise, Borneo is an excellent place for diversification and the formation of the unique forms as well as the many distinct scents of the various Phalaenopsis species found here. On this work-in-progress list, more than half of the species listed here are considered endemic. This makes Borneo a truly special place for Phalaenopsis.

On a side note, the closely allied genus Paraphalaenopsis has four described species which are all endemic to Borneo. I have recently added Paraphalaenopsis labukensis to my home collection and time will tell if this species will accept conditions outside of a greenhouse.

This image was taken from the wikipedia page on Borneo.

Borneo Phalaenopsis species list 003

Species	Distribution
Phalaenopsis amabilis	Borneo, Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan, Australia
Phalaenopsis appendiculata	Borneo, West Malaysia
Phalaenopsis bellina	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis borneensis	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis cochlearis	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis corningiana	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis cornu-cervi	Borneo, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand
Phalaenopsis deliciosa	Borneo, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Philippines
Phalaenopsis doweryensis	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis fimbriata	Borneo, Indonesia
Phalaenopsis fuscata	Borneo, West Malaysia, Philippines
Phalaenopsis gigantea	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis lamelligera	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis maculata	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis mariae	Borneo, Philippines
Phalaenopsis modesta	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis pantherina	Endemic to Borneo
Phalaenopsis sumatrana	Borneo, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand

- Species highlighted green are the ones I currently have.

Phalaenopsis corningiana

I was lucky enough to snag a corningiana recently. According to Peter Lin of Big Leaf Orchids from whom I purchased the plant, this is a line bred sib-cross from Chien Lung Liu. Disclaimer: I got this as a flowering plant (with three spikes!) but because I think it is a recent import, I could tell that it was just repotted in sphagnum and is not established at all. Nonetheless, the flowers have great color with strong markings. So far, they have yet to put out any detectable fragrance... (*Update 1800hr: it smells amazing, and could only be described like so: Holy-mother-of grape soda candy bubblegum!!)

As with the other phals, I'm focusing on vegetative growth so this plant is in a 'spa' bag of its own. However, I do get the pleasure of updating my species list!

Borneo Phalaenopsis species list 002

Phalaenopsis amabilis
Phalaenopsis appendiculata
Phalaenopsis bellina
Phalaenopsis borneensis
Phalaenopsis cochlearis
Phalaenopsis corningiana
Phalaenopsis cornu-cervi
Phalaenopsis deliciosa
Phalaenopsis doweryensis
Phalaenopsis fimbriata
Phalaenopsis fuscata
Phalaenopsis gigantea
Phalaenopsis lamelligera
Phalaenopsis maculata
Phalaenopsis mariae
Phalaenopsis modesta
Phalaenopsis pantherina
Phalaenopsis sumatrana

*The species highlighted green are the ones I currently have.

Borneo Phalaenopsis species list

This is a preliminary species list made from trawling various websites, primarily through the information already available on the excellent site, www.phals.net maintained by Alain Brochart. Taxonomy is not my forte but in time, with genomic data, we will definitely have a better way for genotyping and inferring the different species at a molecular level.

Nonetheless, because this blog is geographically constrained for species from Borneo, the geographic distribution of the list is (sadly) heavily reliant on old collection data prior to the massive loss of habitat on this island. The list is a work in progress, so it may change in the future.

Borneo Phalaenopsis species list 001

Phalaenopsis amabilis
Phalaenopsis appendiculata
Phalaenopsis bellina
Phalaenopsis borneensis
Phalaenopsis cochlearis
Phalaenopsis corningiana
Phalaenopsis cornu-cervi
Phalaenopsis deliciosa
Phalaenopsis doweryensis
Phalaenopsis fimbriata
Phalaenopsis fuscata
Phalaenopsis gigantea
Phalaenopsis lamelligera
Phalaenopsis maculata
Phalaenopsis mariae
Phalaenopsis modesta
Phalaenopsis pantherina
Phalaenopsis sumatrana

*The species highlighted green are the ones I currently have.