Malayan Orchid Review

The following sections are included:

• CONTENTS
• Singapore events of 2015 and their orchid hybrids

Note from publisher: This paper consists of names and origins of various orchid species that have won awards in the year 2015. These awards include the “Award of Merit”, the “High Commendation Certificate” and the “Cultural Commendation Certificate”.

Note from publisher: This paper compiles a collection of new orchid hybrids. It provides a full description of each hybrid and also explains the origin of their names.

Note from publisher: This paper consists of Shows around the region

The earliest hybrid from Singapore was recorded in 1893. Regular hybridising only started in 1928, with the introduction of the then new method of in vitro sterile cultivation of seeds in agar medium. Although disrupted by the War and its aftermath, the record of hybridising grew from then on. However, it was the 4^th World Orchid Conference in 1963 that really gave fresh impetus to the emergence of what was to become an energetic and diverse half-century of hybridising, whether professional, commercial or amateur. That year, 1963, was of course the year Malaysia was formed, with Singapore a part of it. But after two further years of uneasy and at times turbulent politics, Singapore separated from Malaysia by mutual if regretful agreement, and declared its independence on 9 Aug 1965. Up to that date around 450 orchid hybrids had been registered from Singapore. In the 50 years that followed, a further 2,550 were added. This amounts to an average rate of 51 new registrations every year, or almost one a week. Of these, the vast majority (though not all) are plants actually bred in Singapore…

The 17^th EOC was held in London from 8-12 April 2015 at the premises of the Royal Horticultural Society, and comprised a five day show and two days of conference papers. The show occupied two historic halls owned by the RHS, the Lindley Hall and the Lawrence Hall, and besides displays of orchids, included a display by the Lindley Library — including many of the RHS botanical paintings of awarded orchids — various vendor booths, and a remarkable display of Frederick Sander memorabilia. Sander was the “Orchid King”, the man who, more than any other, stimulated and supplied the Victorian passion for exotic orchids. He maintained a huge nursery and an extensive network of collectors. Their depredations, and those of Sander's rivals, did a good deal of damage to the orchid life in the regions of South America and Asia that they visited. Nonetheless, Sander also originated the list of orchid hybrids that is the basis of the present day registration system (taken over by the RHS only in 1960) and the numerous details of this extensive display were among the most striking of the entire show. The display was put up by his great great-grandson Peter Sander…

I was invited to attend a special post-conference speaking tour, arranged by the EOC, to speak at three different meetings - King's Charles School at Kidderminster (where the Midland Orchid Societies met), Writhlington School (where the Bristol Orchid Society and other local orchid societies met) and the Cornwall and Devon Orchid Societies meeting…

Phalaenopsis equestris (Schauer) Rchb.f. is native to Philippines and Taiwan. It is a small plant and has short floral stalks with many flowers in various colours. Three varieties are distinguishable according to the flower colours, including var. rosea for the rose-colored sepals and petals and purple-red lip; var. alba for the pure white sepals, petals, and lip; and var. aurea for the white sepals and petals with a highly contrasting solid yellow lip. These varieties have been used as breeding parents with other species and hybrids to generate many distinguished cultivars with flowers of various types and colours. There are 541 first generation (G1) hybrids and a total of 20,906 hybrids from Phal. equestris in 13 generations registered with the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS, 2015). Several G1 and G2 hybrids of Phal. equestris have been popularly used as breeding parents, such as G1-generation Phal. Cassandra and Phal. Zuma's Pixie, and G2-generation Phal. Timothy Christopher, Phal. Carmela's Pixie, Phal. Sogo Vivien, Phal. Be Glad, and Phal. Little Gem Stripes. The other generations from Phal. equestris varieties as breeding parents were preferred for the multi-flowered and colorful features, but not for the small flowers, such as the G5-generation Phal. Golden Buddha, G6-generation Phal. Happy Valentine, and G7-generation Phal. Golden Peoker which have medium flower size. Recently, the breeding of cultivars with multi-flowered short stems has been widely accepted in the market and the use of Phal. equestris' progeny as breeding parents will continue and last for a long time.

The Orchidaceae form one of the largest flowering plant families in the world, with more than 25,000 species, found throughout the world but most diverse in tropical regions. They have evolved in close association with pollinators, such as butterflies, beetles and birds, and other organisms, particularly mycorrhizal fungi, and form an important and large element of the plant biodiversity of tropical regions…

Pomatocalpa diffusum from Peninsular Malaysia was photographed being pollinated by potter wasps. This is the first record of potter wasp pollination in the genus Pomatocalpa…

The following sections is included:

• Introduction
• References
• Acknowledgements

BARRITA ORCHIDS Pty. Ltd. has a nursery in one of the most beautiful areas of the Central Coast of New South Wales. The village of Kulnura is nestled on the edge of the picturesque Watagan Mountains, which, in its own right, is the spectacular home of so many of Australia's east coast epiphytic and terrestrial orchids. Scott Barrie, assisted by his father Geoff, have been breeding cymbidiums, sarcochilus and Oncidiinae for the last 25 years to improve the shape, colour, size and habit of these orchids…

“What?! You are going to Raja Ampat? I wish I could go with you!”, said my sister. Her eyes looked brighter and bigger as I told her that I would go there. “Don't forget to bring snorkel gear, swimwear, and sunscreen,” she reminded me. As a diving enthusiast, I knew that Raja Ampat is the hottest diving location in the world because 70% of the coral species on this planet are found around the islands there. Its natural beauty has been bewitching divers, scientists, and nature lovers. But as an orchid enthusiast, I did not know anything about the orchids there…

1) Paphiopedilum sugiyamanum was described by William Cavestro in 2001, from a specimen collected by M. Sugiyama and Abas Haji Saidin in Sabah on 15 March 2001. The locality and altitude of this collection were not published; the author said that it was a “terrestrial or lithophytic plant growing in leaf litter and humus on a northeast facing slope”. Since then there have only been two documented records of this species in the wild, one in hillforest on ultramafic soil at 800m on Mount Kinabalu, and the other in the Ulu Padas area of Sipitang District (Wood et al., 2011). A new population of P. sugiyamanum was recently discovered in a different locality to these two documented records. We are going to describe the situation (without disclosing the location), because the circumstances are unusual, and raise the possibility that P. sugiyamanum is a natural hybrid…

The World Orchid Conference Trust Trustees walked the line-up of all the plants exhibited at the Singapore Orchid Show 2014. They were on the lookout for a plant worthy of being awarded a very prestigious award — a hybrid that exhibited great potential in orchid hybridisation for its innovation and creativity. For a number of OSSEA's past biennial Singapore Orchid Shows, the WOC Trust Trustees had generously donated two trophies for Innovation and Creativity in orchid hybridising. One would go to the Exhibitor of the plant, and the other, to the Originator…

My father, Abdool Majeed Khadaroo (Majeed), was born in 1924 in the village of Saint Julien in Mauritius. Majeed started life from humble origins; he was the son of a sugarcane planter and the eldest of thirteen children. He often reminded us that in his early years he walked to school barefooted and had little or no pocket money. He was a keen Boy Scout and by the age of 12, he was already passionate about plants and had grafted his first rose…

For the past seven years, OSSEA's Monthly Meetings have seen an impressive array of quality vandaceous species and hybrids. Most of these have come from the garden of Christopher Teo. It was no surprise that Christopher won the OSSEA Monthly Meeting Shield for 2013 and 2014, for scoring the most points for our Table Display throughout the year. In our Singapore Orchid Show 2014, he also walked away with the prestigious H.H. Sultan of Johor's Perpetual Trophy for the Amateur scoring the most points. So how does a hobbyist manage to cultivate such a large number of rare and quality plants as Christopher Teo…

OSSEA members bring a great many types of flowering plants to monthly meetings, and increasingly, these plants comprise some rather interesting species that can be described as ‘rare’. I would imagine that our members are beginning to relish the pleasures of growing species plants, as opposed to hybrids, the latter of which are almost always bigger, longer lasting and generally more showy. No doubt many hobbyists are spurred on by conservation efforts as well as the very challenge of growing plants that are not often found in commercial nurseries or even exhibited in orchid shows. Though often seasonal, when the species bloom, it is always a delightful experience, and members hardly need to be persuaded to share such gems with other enthusiasts…

Gustav Wilhelm Schiller was born on 5th April 1803 in Hamburg, Germany. He became vice-consul of the Republic of Venezuela and from 1839, together with his brother Wilhelm Schiller, was owner of the shipping company Gebr. Schiller & Co. of Hamburg. The company was also active in other business fields — for example, it was involved in the reconstruction of the gasworks of Hamburg. In 1871, one year after the death of Wilhelm Schiller, the company was liquidated. In 1842, Gustav Wilhelm purchased from a seaman a large piece of land at Ovelgönne near Hamburg and ordered an English engineer Francis Giles to build him a house together with some greenhouses - this villa became known as the Schillerburg. The first record of a collection of orchids owned by Schiller was published by Eduard Otto in 1848 in Neue Allgemeine Deutsche Garten- und Blumenzeitung. Otto wrote (translated): “Although the greenhouses are small and the collection not yet important, it will become without any doubt significant within a short time”. We don't know how far Schiller used his position as consul and later vice-consul of Venezuela to import plants directly, the majority of which were probably purchased from England. Because of the fast growing collection, the greenhouses became crowded and so additional room was needed. In 1854, the…

This book combines the work of a Singapore orchid scientist (Chia) with the photographic skills of the British-Australian editor of the online magazine Tropical Gardening (Astley). It aims to provide — and does provide — a general practical guide to the many aspects of growing lowland tropical orchids. As such it is in many ways a successor volume to Orchid Growing in the Tropics, being published some 17 years after the latter volume and covering much of the same ground. It is richly illustrated in colour throughout, with at least one picture per page and often more, making it an attractive book to dip into. On the other hand, as the publishers have used glossy paper throughout, care needs to be taken to avoid getting moisture onto the pages, and it is not a book one will necessarily take into the garden or the orchid house…

Grosourdya multistrata P. O'Byrne, J.J. Vermeulen & S. Lee, a new orchid species from Sulawesi and Borneo, is described and illustrated…

The following sections is included:

• Office Bearers 2015-2016