Phalaenopsis deliciosa Rchb. f. 1854 SUBGENUS Parishinae SECTION Deliciosae E. A. Christ 1986
Photos by Milan Vágner
Photo by Jay Pfahl
to 
Common Name The Delicate Phalaenopsis - In Thailand Katachaw - In China Da Jian Nang Hu Die Lan
Flower Size 1/2" to 3/4" [1.5 to 2 cm]
Found in the Chinese Himalayas, Assam India, Bangladesh, eastern Himalayas, Nepal, Sikkim, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Borneo, Java, Moluccas, the Philippines, Sulawesi and Sumatra in riverine forests at elevations below 600 meters as a miniature sized, warm to hot growing epiphyte with a very short stem carrying, 3 to 6 oblong-lanceolate, undulate margins, apically slightly unequal leaves that blooms at any time and more than once a year if well grown, on an axillary, erect, racemose, to 8" [20 cm] long, often branching, many flowered inflorescence with the sequentially opening flowers facing in all directions.
Some authors attribute this name to Kingidium decumbens and vice versa, but Kingidium decumbens is a misused name and really would be a synonym of Phalaenopsis parishii due to a mistake in taxomony a hundred years ago.
This orchid grows well mounted on cork or tree fern,
Synonyms Aerides decumbens Griff 1851; Aerides latifolia Thw. 1861; Aerides latifolium Thwaites 1864; Biermannia decumbens (Griff.) T. Tang & F.T. Wang ex G. Merr. & Metcalf 1945; Doritis deliciosa (Rchb.f.) T.Yukawa & K.Kita 2005; Doritis deliciosa subsp. hookeriana (O.Gruss & Roellke) T.Yukawa & K.Kita 2005; Doritis hebe [Rchb.f] Schlechter 1913; Doritis latifolia [Thw.] Trim 1885; Doritis latifolia Benth. & Hook. f. 1889; Doritis philippinensis Ames 1908; Doritis steffensii Schlechter 1911; Doritis wightii [Rchb.f] Benth & J D Hook 1883; Doritis wightii [Rchb.f]Benth. 1889; Kingiella decumbens [Griff]Rolfe 1917; Kingiella hebe (Rchb. f.) Rolfe 1917; Kingidium decumbens (Griff.) P.F. Hunt 1970; Kingidium deliciosum (Rchb. f.) H.R. Sweet 1970; Kingidium deliciosum var bellum {teijsm & Binn 1993; Kingidium philippinensis [Ames] O. Gruss 1995; Kingidium wightii [Rchb.f] Gruss & Rolke 1995; Kingiella hebe {Rchb.f] Rolfe 1917; Kingiella philippinensis [Ames] Rolfe 1917; Kingiella steffensii [Schltr.] Rolfe 1917; Phalaenopsis alboviolacea Ridl. 1893; Phalaenopsis amethystina Rchb.f 1865; Phalaenopsis bella Teijsm & Binn. 1862; Phalaenopsis decumbens [Griff]Holtman 1947; Phalaenopsis deliciosa f. alba (O.Gruss) Christenson 2008; Phalaenopsis deliciosa subsp. hookeriana (O.Gruss & Roellke) Christenson 2001; Phalaenopsis hebe Rchb.f 1862; Phalaenopsis hebe var amboinensis J.J.Sm. 1917; Phalaenopsis wightii Rchb.f 1862; Polychilos decumbens (Griff.) Shim 1982
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;
Bonplandia Rchb.f 1854; Bonplandia Rchb.f 1857; Xenia Orchidaceae Rchb.f 1862; Xenia Orchidaceae Rchb.f 1862 as P hebe; Xenia Orchidaceae vol 2 Rchb.f 1868 as P hebe drawing; A Century of Indian Orchids Vol 5 Hooker 1895 as Doritis wightii drawing good; Orchids of Burma Grant 1895/1995 as Doritis wightii; The Orchids of Sikkim-Himalaya Part 1 King & Pantling 1898 as Doritis wightii drawing fide; Die Orchideen Von Java J.J.Sm. 1905; Die Orchideen Von Java J.J.Sm. 1905 as P hebe; Die Orchideen Von Java Figuren Atlas J.J.Smith 1908 as P hebe drawing fide; Studies in the Family Orchidaceae Fascile 2 Ames 1908 as Doritis philippinensis drawing fide; Gard. Bull. Singapore 11:286 Holttum 1947; Flora Of Malaya Vol 1 Holttum 1957 as P decumbens; The Orchids of Thailand Seidenfaden & Smitinand 1963 as K decumbens drawing/photo fide; The Orchids of Thailand Seidenfaden & Smitinand 1965 corrections as Phalaenopsis decumbens; Encyclopedia of Cultivated Orchids Hawkes 1965 as Kingiella decumbens; Encyclopedia of Cultivated Orchids Hawkes 1965 as Kingiella philippinense; AOS Bulletin Vol 36 #12 1967 as Kingiella philippinensisphoto fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 36 #12 1967 as Kingiella decumbens drawing fide; Beautiful Thai Orchid Species Kamemoto & Sagarik 1975 as P decumbens photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 48 #2 1979 as P decumbens photo ok; Indian Orchids: A Guide to Identification and Culture Vol 2 Pradhan 1979 as Kingidium deliciosa; A Revised Handbook to the Flora of Ceylon Vol 2 Dassanayake & Fosberg 1981 as Kingidium deliciosum drawing fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 53 No 11 1984 as Kingidium deliciosa drawing fide; Orchidiana Philipiniana Vol 1 Valmayor 1984; Opera Botanica #95 Seidenfaden 1988 as Kingidium deliciosa drawing/photo fide; Die Orchideen Band 1B lieferung 23 1393 - 1456 Brieger 1990 as Kingidium deliciosum drawing/photo fide; Orchids Travel By Air A Pictoral Safari Mulder, Mulder-Roelfsema and Schuiteman 1990 as Kingidium deliciosum photo fide; Orchids of Java Comber 1990 as Kingidium deliciosa photo ok; Orchids of Kumaun Himalayas Pangtey, Samant and Rawat 1991 as Kingidium deliciosum; The Orchids of Penninsular Malaysia and Singapore Wood & Seidenfaden 1992 drawing/photo fide; The Manual Of Cultivated Orchid Species Bechtel, Cribb & Launert 1992 as Kingidium decumbens Drawing fide; Thai Orchid Species Rakpaibulsombat 1992 as Phalaenopsis decumbens photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 63 No 2 1994as Kingidium deliciosa photo fide; Orchids of Borneo Vol 1 Chan, Shim, Lamb & Wood 1994 as Kingidium deliciosum drawing/photo fide; Identification of the Orchids [Orchidaceae Juss.] Vietnam Averyanov 1994 as Kingidium deliciosum; A Checklist of the Orchids of Borneo Wood & Cribb 1994 as Kingidium deliciosum; Orchid Digest Vol 59 No 1 1995 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 70 No 12 2001 photo fide; Phalaenopsis, A Monograph EA Christenson 2001 photo fide; Phalaenopsis, A Monograph EA Christenson 2001 as P deliciosa subsp hookerianaphoto fide; A to Z of South East Asian Orchid Species Vol 1 O'Byrne 2001 as Kingidium deliciosum photo fide; Orchids of Sumatra Comber 2001 as Kingidium deliciosa photo fide; A field Guide to the Wild Orchids of Thailand Vaddhanaphuti 2001 as Kingidium deliciosum photo fide; Rudolf Schlechter Die Orchideen Band 1C lieferung 42 - 43 pg 2626 - 2762 Brieger 2001 as Kingidium deliciosum; Lindleyana Vol 17 No 1 2002 as Kingidium deliciosum; Orchid Digest Vol 66 #4 2002 photo fide; Orchids of Bhutan Pearce & Cribb 2002 as P deliciosa ssp hookeriana; Flora Malesiana Orchids of the Philippines Vol I Agoo, Shuiteman and de Vogel 2003; A field Guide to the Wild Orchids of Thailand Vaddhanaphuti 2005 as Kingidium deliciosum photo fide; Australian Orchid Review Vol 71 No 1 2006 photo; AOS Bulletin Vol 76 No 1 2007 photo fide; The Orchids of India A Glimpse Misra 2007 as Kingidium deliciosa drawing fide/photo ok; Mille et Une Mini Orchideees Roguenant 2009 photo fide; A Field Guide to the Orchids of China Singchi, Zhongjian, Yibo, Xiaohua and Zhanhuo 2009 as Kingidium deliciosum photo fide; Flora of China Vol 25 Zhengyi, Raven & Deyuan 2009; Flora of China Vol 25 Illustrations Zhengyi, Raven & Deyuan 2010 drawing; The Atlas of Wild Orchids in Hainan Island, China Shenyan and Junmei 2010 as Kingidium deliciosum photo fide; The Wild Orchids in Yunnan Xu Xiang Ye & Liu 2010 as Kingidium deliciosum photos fide; Wild Orchids of Penninsular Malaysia Ong, O'Byrne, Yong & Saw 2011 photo fide; Turczaninowia 16(4):26-46 NEW AND RARE ORCHIDS (ORCHIDACEAE) IN THE FLORA OF CAMBODIA AND LAOS Averyanov 2013 as Kingidium deliciosum; Orchids of Odisha Misra 2014 as Kingidium deliciosum drawing/photo fide; LANKESTERIANA 15(1): 7—50. Jeewan Singh Jalal & J. Jayanthi 2015; AOS Bulletin Vol 85 #10 2016 photo fide; Orchid Digest Vol 83 #4 2019 Photo fide; Atlas of Native Orchids of China Vol 2 Jin Xiaohua, Li Jianwu and Ye Deping 2019 photo fide;
Phalaenopsis deliciosa subsp. hookeriana (O.Gruss & Roellke) Christenson 2001
Photo by Kjell Nillson
Synonyms Kingidium deliciosum ssp hookeriana [Gross & Rolke] Christensen 2001; Kingidium hookerianum O.Gruss & Roellke 1994; Kingidium hookerianum O.Gruss & Roellke 1995
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; *Phalaenopsis, A Monograph EA Christenson 2001 photo fide; Rudolf Schlechter Die Orchideen Band 1C lieferung 42 - 43 pg 2626 - 2762 Brieger 2001 as Kingidium hookeriana; Orchid Digest Vol 66 #4 2002 photo fide; Orchids of Bhutan Pearce & Cribb 2002; Orchid Digest Vol 83 #4 2019 Photo fide
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