About
Known as the moon orchid, *Phalaenopsis amabilis* is a highly popular and widely cultivated decorative houseplant. It is notable for its large, long-lasting white flowers and its status as one of Indonesia's national flowers.
Field notes
Morphology
The plant is an epiphytic herb with coarse, flattened, branching roots. It features two to eight fleshy, dark green, oblong to egg-shaped leaves, and produces flowers on a stiff, arching flowering stem up to 750 mm long. Each flower is 60–70 mm long and 50–80 mm wide, featuring spreading sepals and petals, and a labellum that is white with yellow and reddish markings.
Distribution & habitat
Native to Maritime Southeast Asia, including the Philippines (Palawan), Malaysia (Borneo), Indonesia (Borneo, Sumatra, Java, Maluku Islands), New Guinea, and Australia.
Cultivation notes
It is reported to be very easy to grow as a houseplant, thriving in a domestic temperature range of 17–22 °C in bright indirect light. Specialist orchid compost and feed are recommended.
History & etymology
Collected by Georg Eberhard Rumphius in 1750 as Angraecum albus majus. Linnaeus later described it as Epidendrum amabile, before Carl Ludwig Blume changed the name to Phalaenopsis amabilis in 1825. The specific epithet 'amabilis' is Latin for 'lovely'.
Conservation
The subspecies Phalaenopsis amabilis subsp. rosenstromii was listed as 'endangered' under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, with the main threat being illegal collecting.
Habitat
- Altitude
- Not recorded
- Altitude class
- —
- Native to
- Indonesia, Palawan, Papua New Guinea, Sumatra, Australia, Sabah, Sulawesi, Java, United Kingdom, Malaysia, Philippines, Borneo
Cultivation
- Difficulty
- easy