Of the Philippines
In September 2017 a book was published, entitled
The authors are Judi Stone and Dr. Phillip Cribb, from the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, in the United Kingdom. This book was of great interest to the authors because members of the genus are well represented in the Philippines, by ten described species plus a couple of varieties. We also believe that there are a couple of undescribed
species. The genus was established, in 1790, by João Loureiro, from plants collected in southern Vietnam.
is the type species of the genus, and is one of the most widely spread members, which has been recorded from throughout much of Asia.
has the distinction of being the first species described, in the late 1600s. The description was made by Georgius Rumphius (1627 – 1702) from plants he found on the Moluccan island of Ambon. This species has also been recorded from Sulawesi, the Moluccan islands, New Guinea, northern Australia and many of the islands of the Pacific Ocean. In the Philippines it has only been recorded from the island of Luzon, without any provinces having been noted. It grows at elevations of between 100 and 600 metres.
as the specific epithet implies, is also recorded from the island of Borneo. In the Philippines it is known from the islands of Palawan, and Mindoro. It grows on the forest floor, amongst the leaf litter, at elevations of about 1,000 metres.
is extremely widespread and has been found in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Japan, China, Peninsular Malaysia, Thailand, Laos Vietnam, throughout Indonesia, Sulawesi, Ceram, New Guinea, and Taiwan. In the Philippines it is recorded from the provinces of Benguet, Cagayan, the Mountain Province, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, Pangasinan, Rizal, and Sorsogon on Luzon; Mindoro; the island of Panay in the Visayas; and the province of Bukidnon on Mindanao. An interesting feature of this species is that some plants can have leaves which are variably spotted with yellow markings, whereas in other plants the leaves can be plain green. Normally the flowers are yellow, with brown markings on the labellum. In Java, Indonesia, there are plants which produce white flowers with pink markings on the labellum.
is endemic to the Philippines and can be found nowhere else on earth. It is known from the provinces of Nueva Vizcaya, the Mountain Province, and Zambales; and is also found on the island of Mindoro. It grows in shaded localities at elevations up to about 1,300 metres.
is one of the most beautiful members of this genus, with its pure white flowers. It is also found on the island of Sulawesi. In the Philippines it has been recorded from the provinces of Laguna, Quezon, Rizal, and Sorsogon; Mindoro; the Visayan islands of Negros and Panay; and the province of Davao on Mindanao. It is usually found, in shaded localities at elevations of between 900 and 1,500 metres. This species, in the Philippines, is better known by its former name Phaius fragilis.
is another widely spread species, which as been recorded from India, Sri Lanka, Thailand Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, China, Japan, Taiwan, Peninsular Malaysia, throughout Indonesia. In the Philippines it is known from the Mountain Province and Quezon Province on Luzon. In Samar, Leyte and Negros plants in the wild are so far, always found to be self-pollinating plants. This species was described as
but in the above-mentioned book it has been reduced to a variety of