Gastrochilus obliquus

Description

The genus Gastrochilus was first described in the 1800’s and was so named for its flowers:  “gaster” referring to the stomach and “cheilos” referring to the showy lip.  Sounds appetizing, yes?  The genus is composed of approximately 52 species of miniature monopodial orchids that are vanda relatives and look somewhat like little phals or Aerangis.  Plants can be grown in pots in a loose mix but are much better grown mounted and watered regularly.  With essentially no water storage organs, Gastrochilus does not like to dry out for long.  Most species can tolerate cool temperatures, and all of them do well growing intermediate to warm, moderate to low light (I go for low).  See more about Gastrochilus from the AOS.

Gastrochilus obliquus (the slanting Gastrochilus) is a warm- to cool-growing miniature from Asia that produces clusters of yellow flowers with a white lip sporting a big yellow spot.  Flowers are waxy, long-lasting, and fragrant!    Gastrochilus obliquus blooms in fall which is nice as so many plants are out of bloom at that time of year.  I have grown them in pots but think they grow much better mounted.