Rossioglossum williamsianum

**Dorsetman** · June 6th, 2016, 02:57 PM

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I have been looking for Rossios for a few years. There are quite a few species, but very few are in cultivation - the most common one being R.grande. This one, williamsianum is very similar, and it needs a careful reading of IOSPE or similar ( is there anything similar ?) to distinguish, but usually grande is larger - up to 7 inch flowers, and williamsianum smaller - these are 5 inch, although since this flower only opened today, it could be bigger when fully set. Williamsianum can have far more flowers. As many as a dozen. I have had this since last summer when the growth was not complete, and have yet to repot it - I'll do that when the new growth starts, and hope for moire flowers next time around.

But it is a handsome thing, is it not ?

**Sheryl** · June 6th, 2016, 03:19 PM

It is handsome, Geoff! And the plant looks very nice.

**Chris in Hamilton** · June 6th, 2016, 03:53 PM

Very handsome! One of my favourite orchids in fact. Yours is beautiful. I got one of these, Rossioglossum Rawdon Jester (Ros. grande x Ros. williamsianum) in bloom three years ago. After it finsihed flowering it began to deteriorate very quickly. I decided to repot it and discovered that what I had thought were rather large sarong were mostly scale. It was so thick when I ran a thumbnail up it once, I got a pile the size of a match head. I cleaned that up over the next few weeks but the plant continued to pass away. Finally last spring I put the last two rootless, leafless pseudobulbs in a 3" clay pot with no medium, sunk that in a bowl full of wet sphagnum and kept the moss very wet. Over the summer it grew new roots and now has a strong, new pseudobulb growing. Quite an ordeal but hopefully, I'll see flowers as nice as yours one day. Sorry for rambling on.