Phalaenopsis schilleriana
Wesley Higgins & Peg Alrich
P halaenopsis schilleriana was described by H . G . Reichenbach in Hamburger Garten-Blumenzeitung 16 : 115 ( 1860 ) and named for the German Orchid Enthusiast Consul Schiller of Hamburg . The plant was first flowered in G . W . Schiller ’ s glass house two years earlier . There is a note by Seeman in Bonplandia , 1856 ( 4 : 173 ) about a new Phalaenopsis ( which died ) at the Linden establishment in Brussels that could be referring to Phalaenopsis schilleriana . Consul Schiller had acquired the plant ( 1858 ) from Marius Porte of Manila . Porte ( the son of a Marseilles merchant ) was a French explorer and plant collector that collected in Brazil , the Indian Archipelago and the Philippines . Porte sent many plants ( including Phal . lueddemanniana ) and back to Museum of Natural History in Paris . When Porte tired of botanical excursions he retired to Manila , where he operated a lucrative trading company and died of dysentery in January 1866 . The species is endemic to the Philippines ( Luzon and surrounding islands ) and can be found high up on the trees in rainforest or along wet slopes of shady hill scrub at elevations up to 450 meters . The stout epiphytic plant has short stems covered by overlapping distichous leaf bases with fleshy , oblong dark green mottled or barred silver gray leaves that make an attractive plant even when not in flower . 3
The currently recognized varieties and forms are as follow : Phalaenopsis schilleriana var . advena Rchb . f ., Gard . Chron ., n . s ., 23 : 174 ( 1885 ). Phalaenopsis schilleriana var . alba Roebelen , Gard . Chron ., III , 7 : 459 ( 1890 ).
1 ): Inside Front Cover : Phalaenopsis schilleriana , Fl . Serres Jard . Eur .,
15 : 1559-60 ( 1862-5 ). 2 ): Phalaenopsis schilleriana , Dict . Hort , 2 : t . 868 ( 1899 ). 3 ): Phalaenopsis schilleriana , Ill . Dict . Gard , 5 : 2 ( 1884 ).
8 Phalaenopsis | First Quarter | Volume 23 | 2013
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Phalaenopsis schilleriana var . delicata Dean , Fl . Mag . ( London ) 6 : t . 257 ( 1877 ). Phalaenopsis schilleriana var . grandiflora Brero , Orchidee ( Bandoeng ) 4 : 23 ( 1935 ), nom . inval . Phalaenopsis schilleriana subvar . immaculata ( Rchb . f .) A . H . Kent , Man . Orchid . Pl . ( Veitch ) 7 : 37 ( 1891 ). Phalaenopsis schilleriana f . immaculata ( Rchb . f .) Christenson , Phalaenopsis , 211 ( 2001 ). Phalaenopsis schilleriana var . immaculata Rchb . f ., Gard . Chron ., n . s ., 3 : 429 ( 1875 ). Phalaenopsis schilleriana var . major Hook . f . ex Rolfe , Gard . Chron ., n . s ., 26 : 212 ( 1886 ). Phalaenopsis schilleriana var . odorata Brero , Orchidee ( Bandoeng ) 4 : 23 ( 1935 ), nom . inval . Phalaenopsis schilleriana var . pallida Valmayor & D . Tiu , Philipp . Orchid Rev ., A-V ( 3 ): 18 ( 1983 ). Phalaenopsis schilleriana var . purpurea O ’ Brien , Gard . Chron ., III , 11 : 105 ( 1892 ). .. Phalaenopsis schilleriana f . purpurea ( O ’ Brien ) O . Gruss & M . Wolff , Orchid . Atlas , 332 ( 2007 ). .. Phalaenopsis schilleriana var . splendens R . Warner , Select Orchid . Pl ., III , 1878 : t . 5 ( 1878 ). .. Phalaenopsis schilleriana f . splendens ( R . Warner ) O . Gruss & M . Wolff , Orchid . Atlas , 332 ( 2007 ). Phalaenopsis schilleriana var . stuartiana ( Rchb . f .) Burb ., Garden ( London 1871-1927 ), 22 : 119 ( 1882 ). .. Phalaenopsis schilleriana subvar . vestalis ( Rchb . f .) A . H . Kent , Man . Orchid . Pl . ( Veitch ), 7 : 37 ( 1891 ). .. Phalaenopsis schilleriana var . vestalis Rchb . f ., Gard . Chron ., n . s ., 17 : 330 ( 1882 ). .. Phalaenopsis schilleriana var . viridimaculata Duchartre , J . Soc . Imp . Centr . Hort ., 8 : 609 ( 1862 ).