Wow, it has been WAY too long since I last posted here. I started my own personal blog a little while back, and I got all excited about that. I think I had burned myself out on writing about orchids after doing quite a bit of freelance writing about them, and I’ve needed some time to reclaim that energy. I don’t think I’m totally there yet, but I do have a couple very cool things to share with you (one of which I’ll save for a separate post).
This morning, my husband and I went to Whole Foods to pick up some stuff for a picnic in the park today (yay!). When we entered there was a big display of Phalaenopsis orchids for $12.99 (they usually sell them for about $19.99) and they had several peloric orchids. I’ve talked about peloric orchids a bit before, and I have a gorgeous semi-peloric Phal that’s currently in bloom:
Just to recap with a little botany geekery, in case you haven’t followed my blog, a peloric orchid is one that has a genetic mutation that causes the petals to mimic the shape of the lip. One defining characteristic of orchids is that that are bilaterally symmetric (also known as zygomorphic), meaning that if you draw a vertical line down the center, it will look the same on either side of the line. Peloric orchids actually begin to look more star-shaped or radially symmetric (also known as actinomorphic), meaning that you can draw a line along any plane of the flower and each segment will look about the same. Peloric orchids don’t tend to be perfectly radially symmetric like daisies or lilies, but they are much more so than orchids without the mutation.
Obviously, I had to get a peloric orchid to add to my collection—especially for just $12.99. Are you ready to see what a peloric Phal’s flowers look like? Here we go!
You can see that the flower isn’t exactly star-shaped, but it is much more so than a normal Phal. Some of the petals on this plant have opened up more than others, making them look closer to semi-peloric than fully peloric:
Regardless, I think this orchid is beautiful. And it’s a nice, tall plant with two spikes and some unopened buds!
Why yes, that IS a drawing of cats dressed up as Sam, Castiel, and Dean from Supernatural. Thanks for asking!
The orchid was grown by Silver Vase Orchids in Homestead, Florida—the same town where R.F. Orchids is located. That’s the place we visited during our February vacation to the Keys!
For now, I’m leaving the orchid on my desk but I’m sure I’ll have to move it because of this guy, who we have already established is a Plant Monster:
Another blog post coming very soon…for real this time! 🙂
5 comments
I have the same orchid as your first pic, and I love it! It makes me think of a watercolor painting. (My cat prefers my Christmas cactuses to my orchids:-/)
Um. WHERE did the cat supernatural picture come from? I must have one. Painfully need it!!
It’s so great, right?! My husband got it for me at San Diego Comic Con last year, but it’s by an artist named Jenny Parks. Her website is http://www.jennyparks.com/. Her work is so awesome.
Finally, found out what that Phalenopsis is! Mine looks exactly like yours. I got it at The Home Depot, Alhambra, CA. Does anyone know what cultivar it is?
Hi! Finally after several hours of googling I found my newly bought orchid. bought it at the grocery store in sweden. I had to buy it since it was so different from most phals. thank you for telling me about it! cheers 🙂