Megalotus bifidus, philippines

[walingwaling]

hi folks,

here is my absolute pinoy pride!
a few months ago i posted it as no id and all the time we (me and nelson) thought it was a pteroceras. the foliage is totally identical to it, but then it started to spike, which took 2 months, and i was going through hundreds of pix during my research and nothing matched. finally a bloom opened, it takes a couple of weeks for 1 bud, but i was lost again coz this plant is hardly documented.
while going through endemic species starting with letter "A" i hit the jackpot at letter "M", a small pix on google was all i needed.

anyway, i love this unique "snake like" labellum and colors. the bloom lasts about 2 weeks and there are around 30 buds on it. another thing i found interesting, is those buds, which look to me like "screaming heads" trying to burst through, a horror show, lol.
it is slightly fragrant early morning, unlike described on IOSPE.

so here it is, the only genus and species,

megalotus bifidus 1972, "bifid" meaning split in 2.

[walingwaling]

here is the whole plant and a closeup from the side.

[margo]

Looks like the "little mermaid" to me! You sure did a great job researching it! Now you get to enjoy the pretty blooms!

[Lambert]

Very cute flower and pretty color.
Congrats on being a good orchid detective and going through part of the alphabet to identify it!
The lip looks like a snake's tongue to me.

[ang709]

Great photos! The labellum is awesome.

[Tmai]

Very cool. I love the way the spike hangs down and the flowers are like little mouths coming off of it. Kind of alien-like. Neat labellum!

Tami

[ntgerald]

I've been asking for Jim Cootes' book in all the bookshops I have been to, but to no avail.

[sadie]

That is very cool. I was expecting some huge flower with a name like "megalotus", but I like the petite beauty. Very nice.

[walingwaling]

That is very cool. I was expecting some huge flower with a name like "megalotus", but I like the petite beauty. Very nice.

yes, its a bit misleading the word "mega", but i think it refers to the thick fleshy leaves.

cheers

[walingwaling]

I've been asking for Jim Cootes' book in all the bookshops I have been to, but to no avail.

i also tried VISCA, but nobody knows, grrrr.

btw,
you posted this plant some 2 years ago, after i painfully researched i saw it here in the forum!
funny thing is, your pix never came up on google, not the flickr nor the forum ones?

cheers