"rajiv" wrote in message
om...
hi all:

I have a phal speciosa'orchidglade' which has flowered for the first
time today. I wish it would flower as often as it throws up kiekis .
well.. the flower looks a lot like phal pulchra. I wasnt able to find
much info on speciosa. is it a synonym of pulchra or is it a different
species?

If the plant is "properly" labelled (i.e. it is a "P.speciosa 'Orchidglade',
SF/SFOS"), then it isn't P. speciosa at all.

Here is what Eric Christenson has to say:

"Historically P. pulchra and P. speciosa have been confused in horticulture.
Unfortunately this confusion continues to the present day, largely because
of a widely distributed clone of P. pulchra erroneously labelled P.speciosa
'Orchidglade', SF/SFOS. Other than similar saturated color, the two species
are clearly separable. P. speciosa has a prominently hooded anther bed, a
spray of five or more simultaneously open flowers, and an inflorescence more
or less the length of the leaves. In P. pulchra, on the other hand, the
anther bed is not hooded, the inflorescences typically bear just one to
three flowers, and the inflorescences are either much shorter than the
leaves or very much longer than the leaves."

So then, speciosa is quite different from pulchra, even though they are
still often confused even today, but Christenson has given clear information
to help you distinguish the two.

If you want more information, get a copy of Christenson's book (the above
quote is from his book). He has plenty to say about pulchra and speciosa
and related species (not to mention lots for lots of other species too). I
turn to his book first, in most cases where I have questions about phals,
but especially when I can't find info on the web.

HTH

Ted