Ascocentrum ampullaceum

A beautiful species from Burma. Flowers are about 2 cm in size and cover the small infl. in rosey-red. A small growing vandaceous plant with flowers to about 15mm.. This plant needs plenty of bright light, copious amounts of water and fertiliser and a good air movement. Best grown in a slat basket, as its roots tend to creep everywhere. It has been used extensively in hybridising as it imparts a good flat flower and strong colours to its progeny.

This species represents another stem-growing genus from tropical Asia. Their likeness to the tiny represntatives of the genus Vanda makes Ascocentrum orchids extremely popular among orchid lovers.Even thier rather high and often unpredictable cultivaton needs have done little to diminish this popularity. A. ampullaceum is a pleasantly tinyplant- its stem can reach the height of 6-7 in/15-18 cm with two thick rows of foliage. The leaves can grow to be 4 in/10 cm long , are exceptionally firm and tough, and are resistant even to direct tropical sunshine. The flowers grow in dense,erect inflorescences that can reach the height of up to 4 in/ 10 cm. They are up to 0.8 in /2 cm long and their shiny cerise-pink color is pleasing to the eye. A. ampullaceum is an avid sun bather- in the wild it can even grow on completely barren rocks facing south . This causes problems in cultivating not only A . ampullaceum but all the other ascocentrum orchids as well: the plants literally starve in the winter ,and in the summer they seem to struggle when exposed to too much daylight ,which may result in their slow growth and unwillingness to bloom. Tend to the plants as you would to the genus Vanda. The flowering season for A. ampullaceum comes in late spring , and the species makes its home in the lower elevations of the Himalayas, Burma and Thailand.