February 20. 2006
Phaiocalanthe Kryptonite 'Ursula' AM/AOS
About a year and a half ago I walked into my favorite local plant store and came across a pot with a couple of bare pseudo bulbs and a very pretty spike with dark burgundy, showy flowers, which were reminiscent of Phaius tankervilleae, but not quite.... The plant was tagged simply as "Ursula", nothing else. Well, "it did have my name on it", so it had to go home with me.
Outside over the Summer the plant grew a new pseudobulb and large leaves and during the Winter two spikes emerged. Googling the flowers, I came across E.F.G. Orchids/Hausermann's web site and learned that this is surely the hybrid of Calanthe Rozel X Phaius tankervilleae, mentioned there.
The flowers are now almost open along the spikes. In the meanwhile the leaves are slowly dying down. This is perhaps due to the parentage of the deciduous Calanthe ( ?) and it might keep the size of the plant in check, since Phaius get huge.
Here are some flowers, just freshly open. The other pictures below were taken this weekend. The flowering spikes make a very pretty display.
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