!Arachnanthe cathcartii [Lindley] Benth. & Hooker 1889

Photo by Dale and Deni Borders

TO and

Common Name Cathcart's Arachnanthe [Englishman In India 1800's]

Flower Size 3 - 3 1/2" [7.5 to 8.75 cm]

Found in the northeastern India, eastern Himalayas, Nepal, Bhutan and Sikkim in tropical broadleaf forests near streams in cool shade at elevations of 600 to 2000 meters this genus was formerly known as Esmeralda cathcartii. It is a giant sized, warm to cool growing, vandanaceous, epiphytic plant with an elongate stem carrying alternate, oblong, coriaceous leaves that blooms in the spring and summer on a stout, axillary, 7 1/5" [18 cm] long, pendulous or horizontal, 3 to 6 flowered inflorescence with waxy, very fragrant, long-lived flowers and needs a wood slat basket and cultural conditions as per Vanda.

Synonyms Arachnis cathcartii [Lindley] J.J.Smith 1912; Esmeralda cathcarti Rchb.f 1874; *Vanda cathcarti Lindley 1853

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Xenia Orchidaceae vol 2 Rchb.f 1862 as Esmeralda cathcarti; The Orchids of Sikkim-Himalaya Part 1 King & Pantling 1898 drawing fide; Die Orchideen Schlechter 1915 as Esmeralda cathcartii photo fide; Atlas des Orchidees Cultivees Constantin 1920 drawing fide; The Orchids of Malaya Holtum 1953 as Arachnis cathcartii; AOS Bulletin Vol 27 No 1 1958 as Arachnanthe cathcartii drawing fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 27 No 10 1958 drawing as Esmeralda cathcartii; AOS Bulletin Vol 36 #11 1967 as Arachnis cathcartiiphoto fide; Indian Orchids, Guide to Identification and Culture vol 2 Pradhan 1979 photo fide fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 52 No 8 1983 photo fide; Orchids of Bhutan Pearce & Cribb 2002 as Esmeralda cathcartii; The Encyclopedia of Cultivated Orchids Hawkes 1987 as Arachnis cathcartii; The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Orchids Pridgeon 1992 as Esmeralda cathcartii; Manual of Orchids Stewart 1997 as Esmeralda clarkei; Orchids of Bhutan Pearce & Cribb 2002 as Esmeralda cathcartii drawing/photo fide; 100 Sikkim Himalayan Orchids Pradhan 2005 as Esmeralda cathcartii photo fide; Orchids of India A Glimpse Misra 2007 drawing fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 80 #1 2011 as Esmeralda cathcartii photo fide; Genera Orchidacearum Vol 6 Epidendrodeaea Pt 3 Pridgeon, Cribb, Chase and Rasmussen 2014; AOS Bulletin Vol 89 #11 2020 photo fide;

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