Pleione formosana Hayata 1911 SECTION Pleione
Photo by © Pieter C. Brouwer and his Nature Photo Website
Photo by Eric Hunt, plant grown by Dennis Westler
Photo by© Jay Pfahl
LATE 
to EARLY 
Common Name The Formosa Pleione - in China Tai Wan Du Suan Lan
Flower Size 3 to 4" [6 to 10 cm]
This is a small sized, cold growing terrestrial or lithophyte growing in moss on sunny rocks or on tree trunks in moist foggy areas found near the treeline in shaded locations in the mountains of Formosa at elevations of 1500 to 2500 meters with compressed, ovoid to ovoid-conical pseudobulbs carrying a single, apical, erect to arcuate, oblanceolate to elliptic, plicate, acuminate, deciduous leaf that is shortly petiolate and blooms in the late winter and early spring with one or two flowers per erect, 10" [to 22 cm] long, inflorescence which arises basally as a new growth appears. The growth of the psuedobulbs begins in the spring as it blooms and they will grow vigorously all summer until the onset of the fall which will cause the growth to stop and the leaves will drop, as this passes it is time to curtail watering and fertilizing until the process begins anew in the early spring.
This species is within the P bulbocodioides complex which includes P bulbocodioides, P limprichtii, P plenoides, P formosana, and P chunii .
Synonyms Coelogyne formosana (Hayata) Kudo 1931; Pleione bulbocodioides var. nivea (Fukuy.) S.S.Ying 1977; Pleione formosana f. alba Torelli & Riccab. 2000; Pleione formosana var. nivea Fukuy. 1932; Pleione hookeriana f. nivea (Fukuy.) M.Hiroe 1971; Pleione hui Schlechter 1924; Pleione pricei Rolfe 1917; Pleione prisei Rolfe 1917
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;
AOS Bulletin Vol 28 #10 1959 drawing fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 28 No 10 1966 drawing; Orchid Digest Vol 44 No 6 1980 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 51 # 4 1982 as P bulbocodioides var formosana photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 53 No 3 1984 photo; Die Orchideen lieferung 16/17/18 Schlechter/Brieger 1986; Die Orchideen lieferung 16/17/18 Schlechter/Brieger 1986 as P pricei; The Genus Pleione Cribb & Butterfield 1988 drawing/photo fide; The Manual Of Cultivated Orchid Species Bechtel, Cribb & Launert 1992 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 65 No 1 1996 drawing fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 67 No 4 1998 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 67 No 10 1998 drawing fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 72 #2 2003 drawing fide; Australian Orchid Review Vol 67 No 4 2002 photo; AOS Buletin Vol 71 No 5 2002 photo fide; AOS Buletin Vol 71 No 12 2002 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 72 No 2 2003 drawing; Australian Orchid Review Vol 65 No 3 2000 photo; Flora of China Vol 25 Zhengyi, Raven & Deyuan 2009; Mille et Une Mini Orchideees Roguenant 2009 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 79 #9 2010 photo fide; Orchid Digest Vol 78 #4 2014 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 84 #10 2015 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 86 #4 2017 photo fide; Orchid Digest Vol 83 #4 2019 Photo fide; Atlas of Native Orchids of China Vol 1 Jin Xiaohua, Li Jianwu and Ye Deping 2019 photo fide;
Pleione formosana Hayata 1911 White Variety
Photo by © Pieter C. Brouwer and his Nature Photo Website
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