Coelogyne memoria W. Micholitz AM/RHS
Flowers some 5 inches or more natural spread ; the spike will probably have 5 flowers, but like most white flowers they spot very easily in high humidity , so the plant needs to be taken out of the greenhouse when the flowers start to open, otherwise they go off so quickly. This is a plant which loves S/H/ I grew a propagation for 15 years without ever getting a bulb up to flowering size , before I discovered that ; now it increases quuite nicely, and fairly regularly branches and increases in size. In fact what you see here is the first flowering after division and selling off half a dozen pieces a couple of years ago.
First registered in 1950 and awarded by the RHS not long after - also awarded by the AOS but not until 50 years later . Named for William Micholitz who was one of Sanders collectors a hundred years ago , and who introduced many orchids into the western orchid world. I don't think it is correct to say he discovered them -( I went to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe once, and was told that Livingstone did not discover them, as claimed , the local people knew all about them and had there own name for them long before Queen Victoria) - but we wouldn't be growing them today without him or someone like him. So it is right that his name should be remembered.
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