A mini-phal

Another flower present from a friend, to cheer me during these long months of no visible flowers from my workspace (because of construction work on my front patio that started at the beginning of November and won’t be done until we have two weeks of dry weather, omg, after which painting can be done). This is a miniature phalaenopsis orchid (only about 8 inches tall), which requires indirect light (only) and almost no watering, so it can live happily on my worktable:

(#1)

White with a purple lip!

From Wikipedia:

Phalaenopsis…, known as moth orchids, abbreviated Phal in the horticultural trade, is an orchid genus of approximately 60 species. Phalaenopsis is one of the most popular orchids in the trade, through the development of many artificial hybrids. It is native to southern China, Taiwan, the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia (Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, etc.), New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, and Queensland.

… The generic name from Greek means … “Phalaen[a]-like” and is probably a reference to the genus Phalaena, the name given by … Linnaeus to a group of large moths; the flowers of some species supposedly resemble moths in flight. For this reason, the species are sometimes called moth orchids.

They come in an enormous range of colors. Three more in net-images:

(#2)

Yellow and purple

(#3)

Purple delight

(#4)

White with orange lip

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