Phalaenopsis tetrapsis (Rchb.f. 1868)

Phalaenopsis tetraspis, red sepal white petal variant

General Information

This orchid species is found at sea level in the South East Asia, specifically Northwest Sumatra, Andaman, and Nicobar Islands. They grow in the mangrove swamps and prefer temperatures between between 70-85 degrees Fahrenheit. They prefer water with a pH of 7.5 and low alkalinity. Rain water, reverse osmosis water, or municipal water are preferred. The plant flowers throughout the spring and summer months. These are consider monopodial plants. Monopodial plants grow as a single stem with each new growth originating from the apex (top) of the plant, which leads to an

Flowering P. tetrapsis

unlimited growth of the stem. A healthy orchid of this species can reach up to 4-5 feet tall using artificial sodium lighting and 14-18 inches tall with flourescents. Each stem can have up to 100 flowers.

Naturally, the flowers are white petals and sepals with red bars or an all white variant.

Synonyms

Phalaenopsis barrti King ex Hook. f. 1895

Phalaenopsis imperati

Phalaenopsis speciosa var tetraspis [Rchb.f] Sweet 1968

Phalaenopsis sumatrana var alba Wilson 1915

Polychilos speciosa (Rchb. f.) Shim 1982

Specimen for DNA extraction

Works cited

http://www.orchidweb.com/orchidofweek.aspx?id=146

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phalaenopsis

http://www.orchidspecies.com/phaltetraspis.htm

5 comments on “Phalaenopsis tetrapsis (Rchb.f. 1868)”

Nice work! Authority, native locale, etc.

Now for the suggestions:

1) Excellent pic of the flowers but the extraction specimen pic could be clearer/larger and needs a caption.
2) Monopodial growth is a characteristic of 3 of the 4 subtribes of the Vandeae, including the Aeridinae. It’s good information to have but needs to be given a more appropriate context.
3) When you describe the mature plants are you indicating height or width? Phalaenopsis don’t tend to be “tall.”
4) Try to eliminate the double spacing of the synonyms and source links (also create hyperlinks for these links).
5) Given where they grow, was there any mention of salt tolerance? Many orchids are very somewhat picky about water quality… salt tolerance is likely pretty rare.
6) unclick “Uncategorized” in the category list

jc2476 on November 6, 2011 at 7:42 pm said:

referring to #3 what do you mean by giving monopodial a more appropriate context

Reply
- jc2476 on November 29, 2011 at 1:30 am said:
  
  Dr. Jarrell,l
  I still wasn’t able to find my P. Tetrapsis species in the images. Could you tell me where I could find it??
  
  Reply

I like the way the post is constructed so that the pictures divide the text up into near segments preventing the wall of text syndrome. The only issue I see is that one picture divides a sentence in half effectively. Rather than spiting the sentence it would look better to start a from a fresh one after the image.