Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Specific Families and Genera => Pleione and Orchidaceae => Topic started by: Sempervivum on June 17, 2014, 03:46:00 PM
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Hallo,
John asked me to post three photos of Bletillas and ask for identification. He writes: "I am sending you photos of orchids that i bought in China three years ago as "bletilla formosana," but the close-up of the flower, are very different between them. Have you any idea what img 0681 is ? It could be bletilla sinensis¤"?
Thanks in advance and kind regards - Ulrich
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none of these is Bletilla sinensis, which looks distinctly different from other Bletilla's. It's much smaller and its flowers barely open. Also, it has only three lamellae, on a lip that isn't distinctly 3-lobed.
http://www.qsbg.org/database/botanic_book%20full%20option/search_detail.asp?botanic_id=1872 (http://www.qsbg.org/database/botanic_book%20full%20option/search_detail.asp?botanic_id=1872)
They may all three be forms of Bletilla formosana, which apparently is quite variable. They could also be natural hybrids; from the Flora of China's description of Bletilla formosana: This species is thought to hybridize with Bletilla ochracea in the wild, and critical re-examination of B. szetschuanica and B. yunnanensis, treated as synonyms here, may reveal them to be natural hybrids.
http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=104100 (http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=104100)