Another Whats This Plant?

[Tanya]

I bought some orchids last week, as usual, they don't have a tag.

One of them have me puzzled. The vendor assured me its an orchid, but it looks more like a succulent plant to me. The roots though are typical orchid roots, fleshy outside but stringy inside. This one came out of the box full of other orchid species that the vendor said came from Taiwan.

Here's a pic, note that there are no rhizomes between the growths.




Any idea what this plant is? TIA

[Gin]

Well , these are just guesses . A Dend. wassilii ? B. nososa of some type ? ...Aloe Vera lol just kidding ... I am sure it is an orchid same reason you think it is . Gin

[uncasteeb]

Not a clue

[Hoa Tony Nguyen]

Hi Tanya,

This one is surely a tough nut to crack! Apparently it is not a common orchid in cultivation that many of us are familiar with. So my guess is just as good as yours and others! It might as well be an aloe species!

From the equitant growth of the plant and where it is from (Taiwan), I think it might be an Oberonia species. These orchids they have succulent leaves and equitant (fan shape) growth; and importantly they are from your part of the world. At the beginning, I though it could be a Phreatia species but after searching, I think Oberonia might be a better bet. Did you try to check with the seller about its name? Or with a botanist/taxonomist at a local university in Taiwan? I am very curious about this one. I don't recall having ever seen something quite like this. (I could be wrong since I have seen so many already!)

Have fun in figuring this out and don't forget to share with us your findings. I would love to know what it is too!

Cheers. Hoa.

[Tanya]

Hi Hoa,

Thanks for the lead. Unfortunately, the seller doesn't know also anything about this plant. It was inside the box among other orchids, one of them I later found out, is a Ceratostylis. My friend who bought the same plant found out a growth in the middle of the fan which doesn't look like a new leaf. Its white and its furry, less than an inch long. She will keep an eye on it and will let you know how it turned out if it will continue to grow.

Maybe Chian can help with regards to botanist/taxonomist in Taiwan?

Chian? TIA

Update...

This is the pic of my friend's plant.



Sigh....in as much as I don't like orhids with minute flowers, if this is an Oberonia I guess I ended up with one. Ah well, at least the foliage are pretty....

[Hoa Tony Nguyen]

Dear Tanya,

Hmm, your friend plant is a Ceratostylis? It does not look like Ceratostylis plants I have seen. (Somehow I think it looks like your plant!)

Of course it will help us a great deal to identify the plant if we have pictures of the flowers. Ceratostylis tends to have single flowers, coming out of the rhizome/leave bracts. The ones I have seen, they have branched creeping rhizomes. You can take a look at ntgerald's post. She/He posted pictures of Ceratostylis retisquama & philippinensis (type members of this genus). From these pictures, you can tell that these plants don't have equitant (fan shape) growth. They look more like a dockrilla (which is part of the dendrobium alliance). Oberonia has small flowers but they are arranged in long, most often pendulous spike (so the overal effect is much better!!!).
I could be completely off base here so pictures of the flowers will help.
So if what you see turns out to be a spike, by all means, share the picture with us. I am excited about it already!

Have fun.
Regards. Hoa.

[mitcholito]

Hi!
It looks very much as Oberonia torana. But this could end up being a complete different specie when it comes into flower. The genus of Oberonia is one of the most complicated and neglected.

best regards /Mikael