Despite a cold January night a good number of me 137 orchid generambers enjoyed a video presentation on the “Orchids of the Philippines’ by Jim Cootes, an Australian orchid expert. The Philippines cover a land mass of over 300,000 square kilometres and is made up of 7,641 islands, many, as Jim explained, being less than 1 acre in size. With a tropical marine climate and high humidity it is home to 137 orchid genera represented by 998 different species. The largest genus is Bulbophyllum with 137 species followed by Dendrochilum and Dendrobium.
Jim’s excellent images together with his expert description of the species, many of which he had discovered made for an interesting evening. Many orchids have been named for him so if you see “cootesii” as the specific epithet you will know its origin’
The table show was well supported and won by a whisker by Jason’s Cymbidium hybrid.