Orchidaceae — Earth’s Most Beautiful Orchids

Phalaenopsis amabilis -- moon orchid

Phalaenopsis amabilis — moon orchid

Phalaenopsis amabilis, commonly known as the moon orchid or moth orchid, is a species of flowering plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae, native to the East Indies and Australia, and widely cultivated as a decorative houseplant. It is an epiphytic or lithophytic herb with long, thick roots, between two and eight thick, fleshy leaves with their bases hiding the stem and nearly flat, white, long-lasting flowers on a branching flowering stem with up to ten flowers on each branch.

Phalaenopsis amabilis is an epiphytic, rarely lithophytic herb with coarse, flattened, branching roots up to 1 meter (3.3 ft) long and usually 3–4 millimeters (0.12–0.16 in) wide. Between two and eight fleshy, dark green, oblong to egg-shaped leaves 150–300 millimeters (5.9–12 in) long and 40–70 millimeters (1.6–2.8 in) wide are arranged in two rows along the stem.

The stem is 100–300 millimeters (3.9–12 in) but hidden by the leaf bases. The flowers are arranged on a stiff, arching flowering stem 300–750 millimeters (12–30 in) long emerging from a leaf base, with a few branches near the tip.

Each branch of the flowering stem bears between two and ten white, long-lasting flowers on a stalk (including the ovary) 20–35 millimeters (0.79–1.4 in) long. Each flower is 60–70 millimeters (2.4–2.8 in) long and 50–80 millimeters (2.0–3.1 in) wide with the sepals and petals free from and spreading widely apart from each other.

The sepals are egg-shaped, 30–40 millimeters (1.2–1.6 in) long and about 20 millimeters (0.79 in) wide and the petals broadly egg-shaped to almost square, 30–40 millimeters (1.2–1.6 in) long and wide. The labellum is white with yellow and reddish markings, about 25 millimeters (0.98 in) long with three lobes.

The side lobes curve upwards and partly surround the column. The middle lobe is cross-shaped with a rounded tip and two long, thread-like wavy arms. There is a large yellow callus near the base of the labellum. Flowering time depends on distribution but occurs from April to December in New Guinea.

The Orchidaceae are a diverse and widespread family of flowering plants, with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant, commonly known as the orchid family.

Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering plants. The Orchidaceae have about 28,000 currently accepted species, distributed in about 763 genera.

The determination of which family is larger is still under debate, because verified data on the members of such enormous families are continually in flux. Regardless, the number of orchid species is nearly equal to the number of bony fishes, more than twice the number of bird species, and about four times the number of mammal species.

The family encompasses about 6–11% of all seed plants.

The largest genera are Bulbophyllum (2,000 species), Epidendrum (1,500 species), Dendrobium (1,400 species) and Pleurothallis (1,000 species). It also includes Vanilla (the genus of the vanilla plant), the type genus Orchis, and many commonly cultivated plants such as Phalaenopsis and Cattleya.

Moreover, since the introduction of tropical species into cultivation in the 19th century, horticulturists have produced more than 100,000 hybrids and cultivars.