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Vanda sanderiana
This orchid species is endemic to the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. It grows as an epiphyte on old trees commonly on top of a water source from 0 to 500 MASL. Its current status is "Endangered" because of over-collection and habitat destruction. Because it's illegal to collect this plant from the wild, one can get a specimen of this plant from reputable orchid nurseries in the country. The plant pictured above is seed-grown and is already more than eight years old. There are three color forms of this species: pink-maroon (most common), white-apple green (alba), and white-golden yellow (albata). Aside from its flower's two-toned color, its most distinguishing characteristic is its missing spur at the back of its lip (All vanda species except this one have their spurs!). This orchid species is heavily used in orchid hybridizing programs around the world. Most modern vanda hybrids that you can find in the market have this species in their parentage. It was almost declared as the National Flower of the Philippines in 2014. The bill, however, was vetoed by then-President Benigno Aquino III.
Davao, Cotabato, Zamboanga, and Basilan provinces in the Mindanao Region, Philippines.
2 Comments
Hello JohnNicerAbletis and Welcome to the Project Noah community!
We hope you like the website as much as we do. There are many aspects to the site and community. The best way to get started is to read the FAQs at http://www.projectnoah.org/faq where you can find all the tips, advice and "rules" of Project Noah. You, like the rest of the community, will be able to suggest IDs for species that you know (but that have not been identified), and make useful or encouraging comments on other users' spottings (and they on yours).
There are also "missions" you can join and add spottings to. See http://www.projectnoah.org/missions . A mission you should join is the http://www.projectnoah.org/missions/2165... to chose the best wild photo of 2018,only the spottings added to that mission are eligible.Note that most missions are "local". Be sure not to add a spotting to a mission that was outside of mission boundaries or theme :) Each mission has a map you may consult showing its range. We also maintain a blog archive http://blog.projectnoah.org/ where we have posted previous articles from specialists from different geographical areas and categories of spottings, as well as wildlife "adventures".
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Beautiful!