The appeal of Appendicula species
It seems that the majority of orchid lovers like to look at big flowers. This makes sense as these large flowers are very easy to observe. But we need to take the time to look at the miniature flowers too, because these blooms are just as lovely as their larger relatives. In this article, we want to introduce you to some of the smaller flowered species. None of the flowers mentioned here is bigger than 6 mm across the widest point of the flower.
The genus was established by Dr. Carl Blume, in 1825, in his from plants collected in Java. The generic name is from the Latin for a little appendix, and refers to the small calli found on the labellum of some of the species. The type species for the genus is Bl., a species which is found in Java in the Indonesian archipelago.
is one of the larger orchid genera to be found, with about 200 species. The genus is found throughout much of south-east Asia, to the islands of the south-west Pacific Ocean, and northern Australia, at a wide range of elevations, but the majority of the species are usually found at elevation of above 1,000 meters.
Plants can grow upright to pendulous; the stems are usually thin and from 1.5 to 5 mm in diameter, depending on the species, and can be from 15 cm long to almost a meter in length. In some species, the stems are flattened. Leaves are opposite and range in shape from narrowly lanceolate to broadly ovate. The inflorescences usually appear from the leaf axil, and can be pendulous, or they can be clustered, and in some species the inflorescences are terminal. The flowers can be produced singly or there can be several open at the same time. The blooms are small and in some species quite attractive. There is a floral bract, at the back of each bloom, of varying sizes, between the different species.
is endemic to the Philippines and is one of the larger growing plants in the genus, with the stems reaching up to a meter in length. The striped floral segments of