Gastrochilus rutilans

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 rutilans (the reddish Gastrochilus) is native to the Himalayas and Thailand, so it grows warm to cool.  Plants produce cluster of yellow flowers heavily spotted cherry red on the petals and sepals.  The lip is white and fringed, so this is a very showy display.  Gastrochilus rutilans has maybe the most open inflorescence of the species I have seen which makes the plant look even more impressive in bloom.  Flowers occur in summer to fall.