Phalaenopsis

Phalaenopsis /ˌfælɪˈnɒpsɪs/ Blume (1825), commonly known as moth orchids, is a genus of about seventy species of orchids in the family orchid. Orchids in this genus are monopodial epiphytes or lithophytes with long, coarse roots, short, leafy stems and long-lasting, flat flowers arranged in a flowering stem that often branches near the end. Orchids in this genus are native to India, China, Southeast Asia, New Guinea and Australia with the majority in Indonesia and the Philippines. Orchids in the genus Phalaenopsis are monopodial ephiphytic, sometimes lithophytic herbs with long, coarse roots and short leafy stems hidden by overlapping leaf bases. The leaves are usually arranged in two rows, relatively large and leathery, oblong to elliptic and sometimes succulent. A few to many, small to large, long-lasting, flat, often fragrant flowers are arranged on erect to hanging racemes or panicles. The sepals and petals are free from and spread widely apart from each other. The lateral sepals are usually larger than the dorsal sepal and the petals much wider than the sepals. The labellum is joined stiffly to the column and has three lobes. The side lobes are erect and more or less parallel to each other and the middle lobe sometimes has a pair of appendages or antennae. The genus Phalaenopsis was first formally described in 1825 by Carl Ludwig Blume and the description was published in Bijdragen tot de flora van Nederlandsch Indië. The name Phalaenopsis is derived from the Ancient Greek word phalaina (φαλαινα) meaning 'a kind of moth':535 with the suffix -opsis meaning 'having the appearance of' or 'like'.:483 Species of Phalaenopsis are found from India to southern China, Indochina, Malaysia and from Indonesia to the Philippines and New Guinea. There is a single species endemic to Queensland. The greatest disversity of phalaenopsis occurs in Indonesia and the Philippines. The following is a list of Phalaenopsis species accepted by the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families as at January 2019: The following nothogenera have been established for intergeneric hybrids which include species of Phalaenopsis as ancestors. Phalaenopsis are unique in that in some species, the flowers turn into green leaves after pollination. As in many other plants, the petals of the orchid flowers serve to attract pollinating insects and protect essential organs. Following pollination, petals usually will undergo senescence (i.e. wilt and disintegrate) because it is metabolically expensive to maintain them. In many Phalaenopsis species, such as P. violacea, the petals and sepals find new uses following pollination, thus escaping programmed cell death. In producing chloroplasts, they turn green, become fleshy, and apparently, start to photosynthesize, as leaves do. Phalaenopsis, abbreviated Phal in the horticultural trade, are among the most popular orchids sold as potted plants, owing to the ease of propagation and flowering under artificial conditions. They were among the first tropical orchids in Victorian collections. Since the advent of the tetraploid hybrid Phalaenopsis Doris, they have become extremely easy to grow and flower in the home, as long as some care is taken to provide them with conditions that approximate their native habitats. Their commercial production has become an industry.