eunanthe-sanderiana

This species has so far been classified as a Vanda orchid and,along with the blue flowered species of Vanda coerulea,it is considered to be the beauty queen of Asian monopodial orchids. Its ascending ,tough stem reaches a length of up to 24 in/60 cm and bears a number of 18-in /45 cm -long ,belt-shaped leaves ,arranged in two opposite raws. The flower spikes grow out of the axils of the leaves ,and strong specimens bear more than one spike. The flower raceme consists of a maximum of 10 pink flowers with impressive crimson venation on the lower tepals. In Europe ,E.sanderiana blooms only very rarely and grows extremly slowly . If it blooms at all,it does so in the fall. The species was discovered in the Philippines under the dramatic circumstances of the 1880 earthquake.