Vanda Tatzeri a very old hybrid

[Ricardo in PR]

A hybrid of Vanda tricolor and Euanthe sanderiana, it was registered in 1918. It grows well and blooms reliably under my climatic regime. Unfortunately the lower sepals tend to curl at the edges. It blooms one or two times a year sometimes at the peak of the mango blooming season which means that there are millions of flower thrips flying all around feasting on the mango flowers and damaging all orchid flowers in sight. Fortunately this year the mangoes bloomed a bit earlier than these orchids so that the flowers were spared the worst of the infestation. The first photo is of a newly opened flower and it shows to advantage the colors of the flowers, the mature flowers are not this flat. As the flowers expand and mature they lose the flat shape of the newly opened flower.

[Tuvoc-Rno]

That is just incredibly lovely, Ricardo! I'm one of those who find the 'less than perfect' form of the mature blooms just perfect.

Kim

[K Barrett]

I think Groves (or was it Motes?) makes the point that a lot of Vanda breeding with the true vandas was done in Germany between the wars, then WWII wiped out many nurseries & collections. Hawaiians took over with their sanderiana/coerulea hybrids after WWII and tastes shifted away from the open shaped vandas to the full round lines. Luckily the true forms are coming back in style, or at least I like 'em. I'm sure a vanda breeder would say they sell more round forms than the smaller species shaped ones, but well I like 'em. Heck I like em all. LOL!

[Ricardo in PR]

The cardinal virtue of this plant is that it is a vigorous grower that at least with me seems little affected by diseases or pests (expect the much hated thrips).