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White Coelogyne
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White Coelogyne
P Native Photo: Saroj Kasaju
Common name: White Coelogyne
Botanical name: Coelogyne alba    Family: Orchidaceae (Orchid family)
Synonyms: Broughtonia pendula, Otochilus albus

White Coelogyne is a small sized, tree-dwelling orchid, with nearly cylindrical, grooved pseudobulbs enveloped basally by tubular sheaths when young. The pseudobulbs carry oblong-elliptic, tapering, stalked, base leaves. The plant blooms in the spring on a slender, slightly zigzagged, 12-20 cm long, laxly 12-16 flowered, racemose inflorescence that is enveloped by overlapping sheaths and has ovate-lanceshaped, floral bracts, which eventually fall off. Flowers are uniformly white, 1-1.8 cm in diameter; flower-stalk and ovary 5-6 mm. Dorsal sepal is narrowly oblong, 7-8 x 1.4-1.6 mm, 3-veined, tapering; lateral sepals slightly oblique. Petals are narrowly oblong-lanceshaped, 6-7 x 1.2-1.5 mm, 3-veined, pointed; lip 3-lobed; lateral lobes embracing column, reaching 1/5-1/4 of its length; mid-lobe oblong, about 6 mm, above papillate, tip apiculate; sac with a thickened longitudinal ridge inside. Column 5-6 mm; rostellum broadly strap-shaped. White Coelogyne is found from the eastern Himalayas, Assam, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and southern China in primary highland cloud forests at elevations of 600-2400 m.

Identification credit: Pankaj Kumar Photographed at Pedong Reshi Rd, India.

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