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Nilgiri Belly-Lip Orchid
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Nilgiri Belly-Lip Orchid
P Native Photo: Anurag Sharma
Common name: Nilgiri Belly-Lip Orchid
Botanical name: Gastrochilus acaulis    Family: Orchidaceae (Orchid family)
Synonyms: Gastrochilus nilagiricus, Gastrochilus pulchellus, Vanda pulchella

Nilgiri Belly-Lip Orchid is an orchid growing on trees. The generic name Gastrochilus means ‘belly lip’. This name was coined by the Scottish botanist David Don in 1825 due to the fact the lip looks blown up like a beer belly. Stem is 2 cm high. Leaves are 4-10 x 1 cm, oblong, obliquely cut into two at tip. Flowers are yellow, on 2 cm long, stout, lateral raceme; dorsal sepal 8 x 3.5 mm, obovate, blunt; lateral sepals 7.5 x 4 mm, elliptic, blunt. Petals are 7 x 3.5, obovate; lip 7 x 8 mm, deeply saccate; epichile triangular, margins toothed with few papillae near centre. Nilgiri Belly-Lip Orchid is found in Southern India and Sri Lanka. Flowering: October-November \.

Identification credit: Ravee Bhat, Srikanth Parthasarathy Photographed in Mudigere, Karnataka.


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