Waling-waling : "The Queen of Philippine flowers"

       Waling-waling (Vanda sanderiana) is known as "The Queen of Philippine flowers". It is a beautiful flower in orchidaceae family, commonly known as Waling-waling or Sander's Vanda. This orchid is worshipped as a diwata by the indigenous Bagobo people and was described by Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach in 1882. 

Geographical distribution :

       It is native to the Philippines and also occurs endemically on the island of Mindanao. 

Waling-waling
Image courtesy: I Travel Philippines/
Wikimedia commons
(CC BY 2.0)

Systematic classification
        Kingdom           : Plantae
        Division            : Angiosperms
        Order                 : Orchidales
        Family               : Orchidaceae
        Genus                : Vanda
        Species              : sanderiana
        Binomial name : Vanda sanderiana (Rchb.f.) Schltr.

Plant Morphology:

        Its leaves are 30-40 cm long. Flowers are fragrant with 7 to 10 flowered raceme. The flower has wide and colourful petals. The dorsal flower petal is slightly pink and tinted white. The internal whorls are smaller and the concave lip is usually brown-yellow with red streaks on the inside. It blooms only once a year, between the months of July and October.

Uses:

• It is widely used as an ornamental flower (rarest and most expensive orchid). Ethnobotanical uses are not yet reported. 

References

• Vanda sanderiana (Rchb.f.) Rchb.f.; The Plant List; www.theplantlist.org.; Retrieved 2019-10-06

Peristeria elata - "Holy Ghost Orchid"

Have you heard about the "holy ghost orchid", the national flower of Panama? 
Yes, Peristeria elata.
      Peristeria elata, the national flower of Panama is a species of the orchid family commonly known as "dove orchid" or "holy ghost orchid". The name of this genus was taken from the Greek word peristerion meaning "dove".

Family: Orchidaceae

Binomial name : Peristeria elata Hook.

Peristeria elata
Image courtesy: TommyCrash /
Wikimedia commons
(CC BY-SA 3.0)

Distribution:

        It is widely distributed in the American tropics from Costa Rica and Panama south to Peru and Brazil.

Habitat:

       Peristeria elata is commonly found in shaded grassland edges in tropical forests at altitudes of 100 to 700 m.

Plant morphology:

     They have teardrop-shaped (ovate) pseudobulbs covered with papery sheaths. Its leaves are simple and lanceolate-elliptic in shape with a plicate leaf surface which arises from the apex of pseudobulbs and the inflorescence are arise from the base of the pseudobulbs may be pendulous or erect and from 6 inches to 4 feet long, bearing 4-20 flowers. 
       The base colour of the flowers is white with some pink or red spots. The flowers are fragrant and cup-shaped with white petals and sepals. The central part of the flower has a well-defined dove shape. Peristeria elata blooms between the months of July and October.

Chemical Constituents:
       According to several research studies, 2-phenylethanol, 2-phenylethyl acetate, phenol and 1, 8-cineole were considered to be important components of the aroma of the flower of Peristeria elata.

Uses:

• It is widely used as an ornamental flower. Its ethnobotanical uses are not yet reported.

For further reading:

• Carol Siegel (2012). "Orchids: Beautiful symbols of beautiful places". Orchid Digest. 8-19.
• Jirovetz, Leopold; Gonzalez, Jaime Espinosa; Silvera, Gaspar; Nikiforov, Alexej; Woidich, Alexander (1992-09-01). "Volatile Constituents of Peristeria elata (Orchidaceae)". Journal of Essential Oil Research. 4 (5): 435–438. DOI:10.1080/10412905.1992.9698106. ISSN 1041-2905.