The acceptance of species and genera names of the species was a major discussion point . All final decisions for man-made hybrid species and genera names rest with The International Orchid Register at RHS . For natural genera and species ( such as Cattleya purpurata which was Laelia then Sophronitis ), it rests with the taxonomist groups affiliated with Kew . In Phalaenopsis , the only issue about genera is Doritis . Soon , Doritis will disappear as well as Doritaenopsis .
Dendrobium crumenatum covering tree on road from Jerai Hill to Penanag
Malaysia Tour On Thursday , November 17 , we left Singapore for Penang , a short 1-hour 40-minute flight , to start our tour with Ooi Leng Sun Orchids . Ben and Michael Ooi took 14 of us through parts of Malaysia to see orchids in nature . We knew Mike and Ben from trips to Taiwan and Peterborough and knew many of the rest of the group from Peterborough . The group included 12 from the UK and four others , most of who had been at the Raffles tea . Our first stop after arriving at Penang airport was for lunch , and then onto a small plane for about an hour to Langkawi . We spent a few active days touring Langkawi environs by boat and bus . We greeted a monkey on our small boat in the mangroves and gave him water from a bottle . We did see Paphiopedilum niveum in bloom about 5 meters above the ocean on limestone rocks . There were many plants of the species all just a little above the highwater mark . On the same islands were loads of Bulbophyllums and Cymbidiums , but without any flowers on them . From Langkawi , we took a high-speed ferry to the mainland and then a bus to Jerai , a mountain area of about 1200 meters elevation . We were often above the low clouds or mist at the hotel . The next day , we drove and walked alongside the mountaintop road searching for orchids . We spied many Paphiopedilum callosum var . sublaeve including three in bloom in different locations . Most of these plants were next to the road drainage ditch or just a few feet into the forest . The area was full of terrestrial jewel orchids , a few in bloom and many stunning Nepenthes . We also saw many Bulbophyllums . Next to the hotel is an orchid park with thousands of orchids growing as part of a sanctuary run by the government of Malaysia . The Ooi Leng Sun Nursery supplied the plants . The hotel grounds and trees are also covered with orchids provided by Michael . Heading back to Penang we stopped at a major street corner to marvel at a Dendrobium crumenatum in bud covering a large tree . It would be rare to see D . crumenatum in bloom since the flowers last only a day . The orchid mass was at least fifty feet long . In Penang , we stayed in the Hard Rock Hotel , quite a change from the other Asian hotels .
Ooi Leng Sun Nursery This is a large nursery where most of the Phalaenopsis violacea and thousands of other species are grown by Mike and Ben . At the banquet , the RF Orchids Tour group of 70 people joined us . For the week , both tour groups had stayed in the same hotels but the boat tours , etc . were staggered so Mike and Ben could cover both groups . After the banquet , our group was invited to walk over to Michael ’ s house just a block from the nursery . The next day we did a short bus tour of Penang , had another wonderful buffet luncheon with the group then left the official tour for Kuala Lumpur . We spent the night and the next day in KL and saw most of its sights .
Revisiting India and Then Home We left KL at 8:05 pm on Thursday , November 24 . We arrived at 10:40 pm as the flight lasted 5 hours 5 minutes and Mumbai is two and one-half hours behind KL . Needless to say , we did not have an American Thanksgiving turkey dinner this year . We spent two days in Mumbai visiting places we were very familiar with , especially having our favorite meals . Then we went to Goa , India on November 26 . Here we enjoyed the same resort we had visited for Christmas 2002 . On Wednesday , November 30 we headed home . The homebound trip took longer than expected . We started at 2 pm with a bus ride to the Goa Airport , then the plane to Mumbai , a long layover , a long flight to London , a longer than expected layover ( our original flight was cancelled so we had a five hour later flight ), a long flight to Houston and a limo home , arriving after 10 pm Houston time December 1 . Door to door it was about 42 hours elapsed time .
Three of the multifloral Phalaenopsis 20th WOC trophy and medal winners
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