Vanda frankieana, a new old species

It took approximately 140 years to describe this new species. Already in 1866 this new Vanda species was found and was to be named Vanda crassiloba. But the species was never described. Over the years, various researchers have begun to describe the species but this work has not been completed.

The researcher Destario Metusala from the Indonesian Institute of Science and orchid expert Peter O'Byrne from Singapore has now taken hold of this species. As the name Vanda crassiloba was never registered they decided to rename the species to Vanda frankieana as a tribute to Frankie Handoyo to promote his work on conservation and cultivation of orchids.

Vanda frankieana grows in Kalimantan on Borneo. The species bears 1-5 stiff, waxy flowers on a short inflorescent. The flowers are 3.8 to 4.4 cm wide and 3.6 to 4.2 cm high and the color is bright yellow with red-brown spots and a white lip. The species grows slowly and is approximately 50 cm high when it is fully grown. The species was found flowering from November to March.

Many thanks to Frankie Handoyo for letting me use his pictures!

The species was described in the Malesian Orchid Journal Volume 9 2012.