About jewel orchids / Juwelorchideen like Macodes, Anoectochilus, Goodyera and more …
Author: Macodes Jewel Orchids Prachtorchideen
We both have jewel orchid fever. A hobby gradually grew into a larger collection. We hope you will find a lot of interesting information about jewel orchids in our blog.
Flower detail of Dossinia marmorata x Macodes sanderiana
Dossinia marmorata C.Morren 1848 could well be called the queen of all jewel orchids. It is its foliage that makes jewel orchid etnhusiasts to fall in love with this jewel orchid only found in Borneo. The same is true for the shown Dossinodes hybrid Dossinia marmorata x Macodes sanderiana.
Foliage detail of Dossinia marmorata x Macodes sanderiana
There is only one species in the genus Dossinia, but there is some confusion as it is sometimes traded under the synonymus name Macodes lowii. The shown Dossinodes hybird Dossinia marmorata x Macodes sanderiana was also traded as Dossinia marmorata, which led to some irritataion on our side.
Flower of Dossinia marmorata x Macodes sanderiana
The inflorescence can get a height of up to 60 cm. The flowers themselves are not big, but interesting as soon as one takes a closer look at them.
Foliage of Dossinia marmorata x Macodes sanderiana
Charles Jacques Édouard Morren, who first described Dossinia marmorata in 1848 was a Belgian professor of botany. He was direktor of the Jardin botanique de l’Université de Liège from 1857 to 1886. The generic name Dossinia honors the Belgian pharmacist and botanist Pierre Etienne Dossin (1777-1852).
Flower of Dossinia marmorata x Macodes sanderiana
To our opinion Dossinia marmorata x Macodes sanderiana is a ‘must have’ for any jewel orchid lover.
This Ludochilus with its beautyful flowers is sadly not clearly specified: It was sold by different orchid nurseries once as Ludisia discolor Gold, the other time as Anoectochilus chapaensis. By the flower anatomy it is clear that it is neither of both.
Flower of Ludochilus Lacewing
My guess is that one of the hybridization partners was Ludisia discolor, due to the green colour of the leaves most likely Ludisia discolor var alba. Thus, the shown Ludochilus is Ludochilus Lacewing registered by Hoosier in 2007.
Foliage of Ludochilus Lacewing
Flower colouration suggests that the Anoectochilus hybridization partner is a yellow flowering Anoectochilus, most likely Anoectochilus burmannicus.
Ludochilus Lacewing
It might be that the used Anoectochilus is a plant sold as “Anoectochilus chapaensis” which is a synonym of Anoectochilus burmannicus.
Malaxis commelinifolia (Zoll. & Moritzi) Kuntze 1891 is a synonym of Crepidium commelinifolium (Zoll. & Moritzi) Szlach.1995. It belongs to the tribe Malaxideae and is sometimes listed as a jewel orchid. In a more narrow sense only members of the subtribe Goodyerniae should be called jewel orchids. Nevertheless, the colouration of the leaves and flowers is quite attractive, and Malaxis commelinifolia fits well into a jewel orchid collection. It naturally occurs in Borneo and Java.
Ludisia discolor ‘alba’ is a lovely jewel orchid with fragant flowers. Although not big they are quite attractive in shape and colouration. It has green, velvety leaves and silver stripes that reflect sunlight. It was first described by Samuel Jennings in 1875 as Anoectochilus Ordiana (Goodyera ordeana) in compliment to Lady Ord. According to the text published by Jennings in his ‘Orchids and how to grow them in India and other tropical climates’ Ludisia discolor ‘alba’ was discovered by Dr. Little of Singapur. In my eyes this variety should therefore be called Ludisia discolor var ordiana. There is no need to simply call it ‘alba’.
Plate XLIII showing Ludisia discolor ‘alba’
Foliage of Ludisia discolor ‘alba’
There are only two species that belong to the genus Ludisia: Ludisia discolor (Ker Gawl.) A.Rich. 1825 and Ludisia ravanii Cootes & G.Tiong 2013. Together with other jewel orchids the genus Ludisia is part of subtribus Goodyerinae.
We cultivate Ludisia discolor ‘alba’ in Sphagnum moss that is kept constantly moist but not wet. As the fleshy rhizom likes to creep some distance before the new sidebranch gets into an upright position it is a good idea to use flat planters. As it does not need much light it can be cultivated in the second row of window sills. Too much light will change colouration of the green leaves to a more reddish colour.
Phaius Gravesiae, a hybrid of Phaius tankervilleae ans Phaius wallichii
The flowering of Phaius Gravesiae is always one of the highlights of our orchid year. The sepals and petals have a close to golden colour, what gives them a majestetic, precious appearance.
Lip detail of Phaius Gravesiae
The front part of the lip is with its lilac colouration in an attractive contrast to the yellow colour of the rest of the lip including the spur.
Phaius Gravesiae. We used it for many hybridizations.
Above shown Gastrophaius hybrid was sold years ago as Gastrorchis humblotii var schlechteri x Phaius tankervilleae var alba. Having a closer look at the lip it is obvious that there was a confusion of Gastrorchis humblotii var schlechteri with Gastrorchis pulchra, as the callus typical for Gastrorchis humblotii is completely absent but the hairy callus appendices of Gastrorchis pulchra are visible.
Lip detail of Gastrophaius Micro Burst ‘Frühlingsgrün’Some time ago I presented Gastrophaius Micro Burst ‘Frühlingsgrün’ mistakenly as Gastrophaius Queen Margrethe
This is not surprising as this confusion is widespread and most plants sold as Gastrorchis humblotii var schlechteri are indeed Gastrochis pulchra.
Gastrorchis humblotii var schlechteriGastrorchis pulchra
The springgreen colouration of the sepals and petals is a heritage of the usage of Phaius tankervilleae var alba:
Phaius tankervilleae var alba
My guess is that in Gastrophaius Micro Burst ‘Frühlingsgrün’ Phaius tankervilleae var alba was the mother plant. I have seen total supression of red pigments in a compareable cross: Phaius tankervilleae var alba x Calanthe vestita:
Phaiocalanthe Irrorata
Another clone of Phaiocalanthe Irrorata shows red pigmentation of the lip however, as one would expect due to the usage of Calanthe (Preptanthe) vestita.
Phaius borneensis in Koorders, S.H., Valeton, T., Icones Bogoriensis vol.2, t .111 f.C
Phaius borneensis was the first Phaius species to be discovered in Borneo. It is a spurless species that can be found on the Philippines and on Borneo. It seems to be pretty rare in cultivation … such a pitty!
In 2020 six new Phaius Gravesiae hybrids were registered, one of them being a Phaiocalanthe (Phaiopreptanthe), all the others being of the genus Phaius.
Phaiocalanthe Zona Rossa, Jauch 2020: Phaius Gravesiae × Calanthe Grouville
In 2020 six new hybrids of Phaius wallichii have been registered, three of them are Phaius hybrids, two of them are Phaiocalanthe and one is a Gastrophaius.
This hybrid was registered by M. Tibbs, but my guess is it shoud have been named Gastrophaius Carlise Rechmann. Already the use of genus Phaius does not follow actual nomenclature as ‘Phaius‘ Pink Phantom is a pure Gastrorchis hybrid: Gastrorchis humblotii var. schlechteri x Gastrorchis pulchra. Having a closer look at ‘Phaius‘ Pink Phantom, this hybrid is nothing else than Gastrorchis Georges Fleurié, registered by J.-B.Castillon in 1989 (Gastrorchis humblotii x Gastrorchis pulchra), although another variety of Gastrorchis humblotii was used to create ‘Phaius‘ Pink Phantom and therefore coloration can be expected to be different from Gastrorchis Georges Fleurié. Gastrophaius Carlise Rechmann was registerd in 2019 as a hybrid of Phaius tankervilleae × Gastrorchis Georges Fleurié. Available pictures of ‘Phaius‘ Flying Nun suggest that the cross behind is Phaius tankervilleae var alba x Gastrorchis [humblotii var schlechteri x pulchra]. The use of Phaius tankervilleae var alba is obvious due to the colouration of sepals and petals of ‘Phaius‘ Flying Nun.
Phaius Ferdinand Jauch, Jauch 2020: Phaius tankervilleae × Phaius subtrilobus
Phaius tankervilleaePhaius subtrilobus
We hope that this new hybrid will be one of the most colourful Phaius hybrids so far generated. Let’s cross fingers!
A highlight of 2020 for us was the aquisition and the first flowering of Phaius wenshanensis. As there are only few orchid nurseries who sell Phaius and allied species it is really hard to get a new species once a collection has reached a certain size. Phaius wenshanenis is likely to be an interesting breeding partner as its colouration pattern is more than appealing in our eyes. We hope that we can contribute to the conservation of this species by growing seedlings and by distributing some of them to botanical gardens within the EU.
A second highlight was the flowering of Phaius pulchellus, an african Phaius species from Madagascar.
Phaius pulchellus, Kraenzl. 1882
This Phaius species is one of the rare ones, too. We could get one single plant years ago and had a hard time to keep it alive. This year, we managed to pollinate the first flowers and hope that seeds will germinate. Until today, we did not find the right growth conditions for this Phaius, and we hope instantly that the seedlings will be a bit easier to grow.
Phaius tankervilleae var antoninae fma flava
Another first time flowering Phaius is Phaius tankervilleae var antoninae fma flava, a Phaius that is endemic to the Philippines. We like the yellow lip of this beauty and hope it might be useful in breeding, too.
Calanthe rubens ‘Sommerflieder’
Calanthe rubens ‘Sommerflieder’ was also hard to get. We could buy one single plant from an orchid lover of Great Britain and were waited longingly for its first flowers. The colour depht was exactly as we hoped – Calanthe rubens ‘Sommerflieder’ therefore was a lucky strike.
Calanthe Gorey, E.Young O.F. 1993
Exchanging orchids with other orchid lovers is a good thing, and often the only way to get hold of something special. Calanthe Gorey is one of these specialities, and the flower size of this Preptanthe is amazing. It is a pitty that other Preptanthe breeds from the Eric Young Orchid Foundation are as rare like hen’s teeth. Our guess is that on the basis of Calanthe Gorey some promising new Preptanthe hybrids can be obtained.
Phaius Memoria Pater Agnellus Schneider, Jauch 2019
Among our own breeds Phaius Memoria Pater Agnellus Schneider is a promising hybrid due to its small overall size and the ease with which it will flower on the window sill. We will try to combine the good qualities of Phaius Memoria Pater Agnellus Schneider with more intese flower colouration.
Phaiocalanthe Irrorata ‘Sunrise’
Our Phaiocalanthe Irrorata are a remake of a hybrid registered in 1867 by Veitch. As there are many varieties of both Phaius tankervilleae and Calanthe vestita, breeding of Phaiocalanthe Irrorata is a playground for lovers of Phaius hybrids. We are pretty sure that selected clones will have commercial perspectives comparable to Phaiocalanthe Kryptonite.
Phaius Morningstar, D.Boucher 2002
Our Phaius Morningstar are a remake of a hybrid registered in 2002 by D. Boucher. We bought a Phaius with the label ‘Phaius callosus‘ from Burnham Nurseries in Great Britain some years ago, but with the first flowers we realized that the label must be wrong. With the first flowers of our own Phaius Morningstar we finally could be certain about what we had bought from Burnham Nurseries.
Where can we go as hobby breeders? Among the hybrids we have registered this year are some promising Phaiocalanthe and some Phaius that are useful to reduce overall size of Phaius hybrids. To our surprise we isolated a Preptanthe with an appealing odour, and a first Phaius hybrid that has a very pleasant odour, too. Many of our hybrids are likely to flower nest year, and we are optimistic to see the one or other beauty next year.
Intergeneric hybrids of Phaius include Phaiocalanthe. For the sake of clarity Phaiocalanthe should be subdidvided in those Phaiocalanthe that were obtained by crossing a Phaius with a Preptanthe (Phaiopreptanthe) and those that were obtained by crossing a Phaius with a Calanthe (Phaiocalanthe).
Preptanthe as a genus are easily recognized as decidous members of the subtribe Collabiae – they flower during their rest period when all leaves are lost. Most registered ‘Phaiocalanthe‘ are Phaiopreptanthe, among these well known Phaius tankervilleae hybrids like Phaiocalanthe (Phaiopreptanthe) Kryptonite, Phaiocalanthe (Phaiopreptanthe) Irrorata, Phaiocalanthe (Phaiopreptanthe) Stanny and Phaiocalanthe (Phaiopreptanthe) Charlie Klehm.
Phaiocalanthe (Phaiopreptanthe) Kryptonite (Calanthe Rozel x Phaius tankervilleae)Phaiocalanthe (Phaiopreptanthe) Irrorata ‘Sunrise’ (Phaius tankervilleae var. alba x Calanthe vestita)
Most RHS registered Phaiopreptanthe are derived from Phaius tankervilleae. But there are some Phaiopreptanthe that are progeny of Phaius wallichii (e.g. Phaiocalanthe Black Lives Matter, Phaiocalanthe Schroderiana and Phaiocalanthe JEM’s Golden Heart) and two are progeny of Phaius mishmensis (Phaiocalanthe Simone Halder and Phaiocalanthe Little Pink).
Phaiopreptanthe are sometimes primary hybrids, but often they are a result of crosses that invlove a multihybrid Preptanthe. Some examples are:
Phaiocalanthe (Phaiopreptanthe) Stanny: Phaius tankervilleae x Calanthe Baron Schröder
Phaiocalanthe (Phaiopreptanthe) Charli Klehm: Phaius tankervilleae x Calanthe Grouville
Phaiocalanthe (Phaiopreptanthe) Noirmontaise: Phaius tankervilleae x Calanthe Mont Cochon
Phaiocalanthe (Phaiopreptanthe) Terry Kennedy: Phaius tankervilleae x Calanthe Saint Aubin
Phaiocalanthe (Phaiopreptanthe) Kryptonite: Calanthe Rozel x Phaius tankervilleae
Another clone of Phaiocalanthe (Phaiopreptanthe) Kryptonite
It can be anticipated that qualitative traits of the used Preptanthe hybrids like size and colour intensity will have significant influence on the quality of obtainable Phaiopreptanthe hybrids.
Both, Calanthe (Preptanthe) Baron Schröder and Calanthe (Preptanthe) Gorey have flowers of a really good size.
In my eyes such Preptanthe hybrids should preferably be used in Phaiopreptanthe breeding on the one hand, on the other hand they should be employed to generate new Preptanthe hybrids with more intense colouration or increased flower size – the need to breed high quality Preptanthe is obvious, isn’t it?
New Preptanthe hybrids like Calanthe (Preptanthe) Hildegard Kibler-Mueller ‘Sunshine’ give a glimps how Preptanthe hybrids may influence both lip shape and coloration pattern of future Phaiopreptanthe.
Both Phaiocalanthe (Phaiopreptanthe) Kryptonite E.F.G.Orchids 2000 and Phaiocalanthe (Phaiopreptanthe) Irrorata Veitch 1867 show the potential to further develop Phaiopreptanthe hybrids in both directions: Backcrosses against Phaius and against Preptanthe have been registered recently:
Phaiocalanthe (Phaiopreptanthe) Ji-Ping Beauty, J&P Terrestria 2020: Calanthe (Preptanthe) Saint Aubin x Phaiocalanthe (Phaiopreptanthe) Irrorata
unknown Phaiocalanthe
Phaiopreptanthe on the basis of Phaius tankervilleae can also be created by using Preptanthe other than Calanthe (Preptanthe) vestita: Phaiocalanthe (Phaiopreptanthe) Circe is a registered hybrid of Phaius tankervilleae and Calanthe (Preptanthe) cardioglossa; Phaiocalanthe (Phaiopreptanthe) Pinkotee was created on the basis of Phaius tankervilleae and Calanthe (Preptanthe) rosea. It is a pitty that no picures or drawings of these Phaiopreptanthe are available.
Another interesting Phaiopreptanthe might be Phaiocalanthe (Phaiopreptanthe) Forest Pink: Phaiocalanthe (Phaiopreptanthe) Little Pink x Phaius tankervilleae. 25% of its genetic information is contributed by Calanthe (Preptanthe) rubens, 25% by Phaius mishmensis and 50 % by Phaius tankervilleae. Many shades of pink are possible in Phaiocalanthe (Phaiopreptanthe) Little Pink, depending on the clolour depth of the used Calanthe (Preptanthe) rubens. I would love to repeat the cross by using Calanthe (Preptanthe) rubens ‘Sommerflieder’.
Calanthe (Preptanthe) rubens ‘Sommerflieder’
It can be expected that in this case some clones of Phaiocalanthe (Phaiopreptanthe) Little Pink will show richer colour than Phaius mishmensis.
Calanthe izu-insularis has an amazing pleasant odor, this is the main reason why we keep this garden orchid. We still did not find out the right conditions to grow this japanese Calanthe and therefore are more than happy that it flowered this winter. Any hints for proper cultivation are more than welcome!
Calanthe izu-insularis is endemic to Japan and a terrestrial orchid of lowland temperate forests. It is part of the Calanthe section Vernae. Due to overcollection Calanthe izu-insularis is very rare on the three Izu Islands Koozujima, Mikurajima and Niijima where it naturally occurs. Each plant has subtle differences in odor, not just in the strength, but also in the quality.
Calanthe rubens ‘Sommerflieder’, a Preptanthe that opened its first flower yesterday. The flower is smaller than that of Calanthe vestita, but the intense colour is amazing. There is quite some variability among Calanthe rubens, but the less intense coloured clones are not as appealing as ‘Sommerflieder’. One example is Calanthe rubens ‘Herbstzeitlose’ with its light pink colour.
Another example is Calanthe rubens ‘Schneeweißchen und Rosenrot’. It has the biggest flowers I have so far seen with Calanthe rubens.
This Preptanthe rubens clone displays an amazing deep red colouration. We wait for these flowers year by year and everytime are astonished about the displayed colour depth. A must have for any lover of Preptanthe!
Phaiocalanthe Irrorata ‘Sunrise’ is a beautyful clone that shows nice coloration of the lip. We obtained this clone by fertilizing Phaius tankervilleae forma alba with pollen from Calanthe vestita.
One year I had to wait until this Calanthe hybrid from Taiwan showed its first flower. Yes, I must admit that I had the hope to see a flower that is more different from those I already know from the Calanthe in my collection. Anyway it is worth to show it here …
Calanthe Rose Georgene was RHS-registered in 1996 by Castle Rock as a hybrid obtained by the cross Calanthe Saint Aubin x Calanthe rosea. Calanthe First Lady was RHS-registered by Orchid Zone in 1998 as a result of crossing Calanthe vestita x Calanthe Rozel.
Today Calanthe Grouville is almost in full bloom. It is therefore high time to pay my respects to this wonderful Calanthe. Often, pictures speak louder than words. Todays glorious morning sun helped me take pictures of my Calanthe Grouville. Simply enjoy!
Since some weeks all my Preptanthe (Calanthe) prepare themselves to flower. They dropped their leaves and invest their power in the formation of the inflorescence. As my pictures show it is worth waiting!
Both Calanthe Gorey and Calanthe Tyneville are hybrids. They convince by their flower size that easily exceeds the flower size of a normal Calanthe vestita.
The flowers of Calanthe cardioglossa in contrast are rather small, but have a very interesting and appealing shape. As Calanthe can easily be grown on a window sill I can highly recommend these beautys to all orchid lovers – especially as the flowers are rich in number and longlasting.
Macodes Jewel Orchids / Juwelorchideen by Carlise and Eike Jauch 