Deciduous Calanthe about to bloom!!??

[wuness]

I have two plants of a deciduous Calanthe with developing flower stalks. The more advanced of the two has a 26 inch flower stalk below the first bud. The bracts are large at about an inch and a half. The leaves are beginning to senesce as we are well into autumn here.

The label that came with the plant listed Calanthe rosea but the bloom time is wrong and pictures I've seen of rosea don't show bracts as long as those on my plant.

Does anyone know Calanthe well enough to give me a heads-up on what species (or hybrid) this might be? I could wait a while longer and send a picture of the flower, but this is the first time it's bloomed for me in the 10-15 years I've had it and my anticipation is running ahead of my patience.

wuness

[catttan]

The only Calanthe I grow is C rubens which is endemic to the limestone hills in my area. It does have a very long and prominent bract. There a few hybrids of Calanthe around. Looking forward to seeing pictures of your blooms.

[wuness]

I looked at a picture of Cal. rubens and thought it might be a possibility, especially with the large bract. I won't be disappointed if my plant turns out to be rubens. It'll be another week before the first bud opens.

wuness

[paphioboy]

Calanthe vestita? Or maybe a hybrid (Grouville, Red Baron etc...).. Deciduous calanthes are very popular in some places..

[kiwiorchids]

I have C. vestita, and i found it developed a light coating of fuzzy blue hairs all over the bract before it elongated. It was quite interesting actually.