!Grammatophyllum speciosum Blume 1825
Photos by Jay Pfahl, Plant grown By Seacloud Orchids
Photos by Peter Maxwell
TO EARLY 
and
Common Name The Showy Flowered Grammatophyllum - In Thailand - Hang chang - Ueang phetchahueng - Wan phetchahueng
Flower Size 5 to 8" [12.5 to 20 cm]
A large to giant sized, hot to warm growing epiphyte and occasional lithophyte occuring in lowland forests near streams and rivers at elevations of 100 to 1200 meters in Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Borneo, Java, Moluccas, the Philippines, Sulawesi, Sumatra, Bismark Islands, Papua and New Guinea and the Solomon Islands and is recorded to be the heaviest orchid in the world and is capable of becoming huge in cultivation. They have erect to spreading, very long, cylindric, yellowish with age, many ridged and noded pseudobulbs enveloped completely by leafless and leaf-bearing sheaths and carrying thin textured, distichous, linear or ovate, obtuse or acute, decurved in apical half leaves that are articulated to the basal leaf sheaths and blooms in the summer, fall and early winter as well as in the summer and have a 4 to 10 foot [120 to 300 cm] long, basal, erect to arching, racemose, many flowered inflorescence that carry 30 to 50 sometimes fragrant, waxy, successively opening, long-lasting flowers with the lowest flowers being imperfect and distant. This species has erect,spreading or drooping pseudobulbs that can be up to 3 meters long and leaves that go well up the stem giving them more of a palm tree look. Can be slow to bloom, plants need to be large and have a lot of backbulbs and even still the orchid can be sporadic, at best, to bloom. This species is often found in conjunction with ants and may benefit from their presence.
Synonyms Grammatophyllum cominsii Rolfe 1891; Grammatophyllum fastuosum Lindl. & Paxton 1851; Grammatophyllum giganteum Blume ex Rchb. f. 1877; Grammatophyllum macranthum Rchb. f. 1862; Grammatophyllum pantherinum Rchb.f 1878; Grammatophyllum papuanum J.J. Sm. 1911; Grammatophyllum sanderianum hort. 1893; Grammatophyllum wallisii Rchb. f. 1877; Pattonia macrantha Wight 1852
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Bonplandia Rchb.f 1857; Xenia Orchidaceae Rchb.f 1862 as G macranthum; Xenia Orchidaceae Rchb.f 1862; Orchids of Burma Grant 1895/1995; Die Orchideen Von Java J.J.Sm. 1905; Orchidaceae of German New Guinea Schlechter 1914 as G papuana; Die Orchideen Schlechter 1915; Atlas des Orchidees Cultivees Constantin 1920 drawing fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 26 No 5 1957 drawing fide; Flora of Malaya Vol 1 Holttum Drawing fide; The Orchids of Thailand Seidenfaden & Smitinand 1961; AOS Bulletin Vol 31 No 3 1963 photo fide; Encyclopedia of Cultivated Orchids Hawkes 1965 photo ok; AOS Bulletin Vol 36 #1 1967 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 39 No 11 1970 photo fide; Beautiful Thai Orchid Species Kamemoto & Sagarik 1975 photo fide; The Complete Writings on Philippine Orchids Quisumbing 1981 photo fide; Opera Botanica #72 Orchid Genera in Thailand XI Cymbidiaeae Seidenfaden 1983 drawing fide; Orchidiana Philipiniana Vol 1 Valmayor 1984; Orchidiana Philipiniana Vol 1 Valmayor 1984 as G wallisii; Orchidaceae of German New Guinea Schlechter 1985 as Grammatophyllum papuanum; Orchids of Java Comber 1990 photo fide; The Orchids of the Solomon Islands and Bougainville Lewis & Cribb 1991 drawing/photo fide; Rudolf Schlechter Die Orchideen Band 1B lieferung 25 1520 - 1584 Brieger 1991 drawing fide; The Orchids of Penninsular Malaysia and Singapore Seidenfaden & Wood 1992 drawing fide; The Manual Of Cultivated Orchid Species Bechtel, Cribb & Launert 1992 drawing/photo fide; Orchids of Malaya Segerback 1992 photo fide; The Plants of Mount Kinabalu Vol 2 Orchids Beaman, Wood, Beaman & Beaman 1993; A Checklist of the Orchids of Borneo Wood & Cribb 1994 ; A Checklist of the Orchids of Borneo Wood & Cribb 1994 as G papuanum; Identification of the Orchids [Orchidaceae Juss.] Vietnam Averyanov 1994; A Checklist of the Orchids of Borneo Wood & Cribb 1994; Living with Orchids in Sumatra Landau 1996 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 67 No 10 1998 photo fide; Orchids of Papua New Guinea Millar 1999 as G papuanum photo fide; Orchid Australia Vol 12 No 1 2000 photo; Orchids of Sumatra Comber 2001 photo fide; Orchids of Sarawak Beaman, Wood & Beaman etal 2001; Orchids of the Philippines Cootes 2001 photo fide; A field Guide to the Wild Orchids of Thailand Vaddhanaphuti 2001 photo fide; A to Z of South East Asian Orchid Species Vol 1 O'Byrne 2001 photo fide; Lindleyana Vol 17 No 1 2002; Flora Malesiana Orchids of the Philippines Vol I Agoo, Shuiteman and de Vogel 2003; AOS Bulletin Vol 73 No 8 2004; A field Guide to the Wild Orchids of Thailand Vaddhanaphuti 2005 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 76 NO 8 2007 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 10 2008 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 80 #4 2011 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 80 #12 2011 photo fide; Malesian Orchid Journal Vol 8 2011 photos fide; The Orchids of Mount Kinabalu Vol 1 Wood, Beaman, Lamb, Chu Lun and Beaman 2011 drawing/photo fide fide; The Orchids of Mount Kinabalu Vol 2 Wood, Beaman, Lamb, Chu Lun and Beaman 2011 photo fide; Wild Orchids of Penninsular Malaysia Ong, O'Byrne, Yong & Saw 2011 photo good; Orchid Digest Vol 78 #4 2014 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 85 #10 2016 photo fide; Taiwania 61(4):319-354 November 2016, New Species of Orchids (Orchidaceae) in the Flora of Vietnam Averyanov, Nong, Nguyen and Truong 2016 photo plant only; Orchid Digest Vol 82 #1 2018 photo fide;
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