| Cooktown Orchid | |
|---|---|
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| Conservation status | |
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VU (QLDNCA;
EPBC)
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Orchidaceae |
| Subfamily: | Epidendroideae |
| Genus: | Vappodes |
| Species: | V.
phalaenopsis |
| Binomial name | |
| Vappodes
phalaenopsis |
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| Synonyms | |
|
Callista phalaenopsis (Fitzg.) Kuntze |
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The Cooktown Orchid (Vappodes phalaenopsis), has been the floral emblem of Queensland since November 19, 1959.[1][2] It was first described in 1880 as Dendrobium phalaenopsis, then included in Dendrobium bigibbum, but recently revalidated as a species after Clements reorganised the D. bigibbum cryptic species complex[3]
More recently, the D. bigibbum complex has been separated into the genus Vappodes.[4] The new name of Vappodes phalaenopsis has now been accepted by the Kew Botanical Gardens World Checklist of Monocotyledons, as a synonym of Dendrobium bigibbum Lindl., Paxton's Fl. Gard. 3: 25 (1852).[5].
This beautiful but variable orchid is closely related to several other species now listed in Vappodes and readily forms hybrids, which are now described under the "named hybrid genus" XVappaculum.[6]
The colour of the flowers varies from pinkish-mauve to lavender or purple and sometimes almost white, with the base of the labellum being a much darker purple.[7 ][8]
The plants can grow up to 80 cm in height. The flowers are on canes 10–40 cm long. Flowering time is usually in the dry season between March and July;[9][10] but sometimes all year in commercial cultivation. The flowers are on racemes 200–400 mm long and are usually lilac-purple, but can be bluish or even white and sometimes pinkish with darker purple labellum without a white spot.[9]
It lives in a wide variety of habitats ranging from coastal scrub on trees and rocks, to mangroves, riverine vegetation, rainforest, vine thickets, gullies in open forest and even swamps.[9] It used to be prolific around Cooktown but is now rare in the wild, due to over-collecting by commercial collectors. It is now listed as vulnerable by the EPBC Act.[11]
It occurs naturally in a limited area from the Endeavour River Valley, west of Cooktown, south to the Font Hills, west of Mt. Malloy, in far northern Queensland.[9]
Likes a dry, sunny position with a minimum of watering and a temperature not below 13°C. Needs a bush-house in cooler climates.[7 ] Cultivated plants often have much larger flowers than those in the wild.[8]
Queensland, in preparation for its 1959 Centenary, sought advice what native species would be a good floral emblem. Specifically, the government was looking for an easily grown species found only in Queensland, which was decorative, distinctive, and close to the State colour, maroon. The Cooktown Orchid, which meets these criteria, was one of the four initial suggestions, the others being the Red Silky Oak (Grevillea banksii), the Umbrella Tree (Brassaia (now Schefflera) actinophylla), and the Wheel-of-Fire (Stenocarpus sinuatus). The Courier-Mail, a Brisbane newspaper, sought additional suggestions from its readers, and compiled a list of 13 possibilities. In a public poll, the Cooktown Orchid came in first place, the Red Silky Oak in second, and poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima), already the floral emblem of the capital city Brisbane, came in third.[12]
Media related to Vappodes
phalaenopsis at Wikimedia Commons
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