whats wrong with my phal?

[hannah]

I love this phal, but the flowers have always been this strange shape, not anything like my others, the inner petals never seem to open fully...

[madphrag]

Appears to be a peloric Phal. I thought I had a site bookmarked for this anomaly but I must have deleted it. Anyway, nothing to worry about and you might even want to consider yourself lucky. Maybe one of our other members can post a link for further explanation.

[hannah]

oh, im not sure if thats a good thing...

[madphrag]

Well, there are a lot of collectors that buy peloric's simply because they are just that.

[Daethen]

I personally think it is beautiful and would love to have it. Congrats. Peloric just means that all 3 petals try to become a "lip".

[Rudy]

I posted one myself in March and this is the explanation I got from Jeffrey about peloric flowers:

In orchids, a term used to describe an unusual and often beautiful (sometimes grotesque) condition where three petals (instead of just one)attempt to fashion themselves into lip colors and/or shapes.

Mine is sometimes traded under the name Phal Carloto.

[orchidlady]

As others have mentioned, the flower is peloric. It is a mutation that some find attractive and others don't, but there is nothing wrong with the flower other than being a little different.

Susan

[Dorsetman]

Personally I dislike them, but there at least two which are sufficiently popular to be mass-produced commercially.

I have a fantasy idea about how orchids originated ; some peloric orchids look just like irises - suppose the kind of mutation which leads to pelorosy ( a word I have just coined) happened in reverse to an iris; then you would have an iris which looks just like an orchid....a few minor changes needed then about columns, pollinia etc, but you'te almost there !

I now wait to be shot down in flames by any passing geneticist.....

[espranch]

Geoff...I find your rather "dry" sense of humor fun/funny! LOL! Betty :-)

[hannah]

Well I think its pretty and relatively un-iris like, but thanks anyway.
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