Vanda alpina (Lindl.) Lindl. 1853 SECTION Cristatae
Photos by © Eric Hunt
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EARLY 
Common NameThe Montane Vanda - In China Chui Tou Wan Dai Lan
Flower Size .6 to .8" [1.5 to 2 cm]
Found in the western Himalayas, Assam, eastern Himlayas, Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim and southern China in warm broad-leafed forests at elevations of 1200 to 2000 meters as a miniature sized, cool to cold growing epiphyte with a terete stem envelopd completely by imbricate leaf-bearing sheaths and carrying broadly linear to oblong, arched, unequally bilobed apically leaves that blooms in the late spring and early summer on a short to .8" [2 cm] long, 1 to 3 flowered, glabrous inflorescence with ovate, subacute sheaths and triangular, obtuse floral bracts and carrying pendant flowers.
The major difference between this species and V cristata is that V alpina does not have the horns at the apex of the lip and V cristata does.
Synonyms *Luisia alpina Lindl. 1838; Stauropsis alpina (Lindl.) Tang & F.T.Wang 1951; Trudelia alpina ( Lindl. ) Garay 1986
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; The Orchids of Sikkim-Himalaya Part 1 King & Pantling 1898 drawing fide; The Orchids of North-Western Himalaya Vol IX Part II Duthie 1906; Die Orchideen Schlechter 1915; Encyclopedia of Cultivated Orchids Hawkes 1965; AOS Bulletin Vol 37 # 6 1968; Indian Orchids: A Guide to Identification and Culture Vol 2 Pradhan 1979 drawing fide; Rudolf Schlechter Die Orchideen Band 1B lieferung 19/20 1129 - 1264 Brieger 1988 as Trudelia alpina; Orchids of Kumaun Himalayas Pangtey, Samant and Rawat 1991; The Manual Of Cultivated Orchid Species Bechtel, Cribb & Launert 1992 as Trudelia alpina photo fide; The Wild Orchids of China Tsi, Chen & Mori 1997; Native Orchids of China in Colour Singchi, Zhanhuo and Yibo 1999 photo fide; Orchids of Bhutan Pearce & Cribb 2002 drawing/photo ; 100 Sikkim Himalayan Orchids Pradhan 2005 photo fide; The Orchids of India A Glimpse Misra 2007 as Trudelia alpina; A Field Guide to the Orchids of China Singchi, Zhongjian, Yibo, Xiaohua and Zhanhuo 2009 photo fide; Flora of China Vol 25 Zhengyi, Raven & Deyuan 2009; The Wild Orchids in Yunnan Xu Xiang Ye & Liu 2010 photos ok; AOS Bulletin Vol 81 #7 2012 photo fide; LANKESTERIANA 15(1): 7—50. Jeewan Singh Jalal & J. Jayanthi 2015 photo fide; Atlas of Native Orchids of China Vol 2 Jin Xiaohua, Li Jianwu and Ye Deping 2019 photo fide;
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