Phalaenopsis gigantea

Description

Phalaenopsis gigantea is a species of orchid endemic to the island of Borneo and was first described in 1909. The specific epithet gigantea refers to the giant size of its leaves, which can grown over 60 cm in length on a mature plant. It is the largest known Phalaenopsis species. A very short monopodial stem with 5-6 large silvery-green pendent leaves that can measure over 60 cm in length flowers are ~5 cm across (up to 6.5 cm), cream background with raised red-brown spots, and varying degrees of green around the column, waxy. Mature, specimen-size plants are capable of producing hundreds of flowers on pendent, branching inflorescences reaching 40 centimeters blooms have sweetly fragrant citrus scent flowers can last many months inflorescence can rebloom over many seasons. Although widespread belief that this orchid takes anywhere from 8 to 12 years for a seedling to reach flowering size, it may be possible to flower seedlings in 4 years with ideal culture.