''Phalaenopsis mentawaiensis'' is a species of orchid endemic to

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. The specific epithet ''mentawaiensis'' refers to the Mentawai islands of West Sumatra.

Description

This species is a small-sized, hot-growing epiphyte with 15-50 cm long, inclined to erect, branched or unbranched inflorescences. They produce slightly fragrant flowers of similar floral fragrance to ''Phalaenopsis violacea''. The flowers are larger and more full in shape, which approach those of ''Phalaenopsis bellina''. Some forms have green tipped sepals and petals.Christenson, Eric A. (2001). Phalaenopsis : a monograph. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press. p. 164. ISBN 1604691719.

Ecology

This species occurs on tall trees in elevations of 0-100 m above sea level.

Taxonomy

This species was formerly identified as ''

Phalaenopsis violacea ''Phalaenopsis violacea'' is a species of orchid endemism, endemic to the Andaman Islands, the Nicobar Islands and northwestern Sumatra. Description ''Phalaenopsis violacea'' is a species of orchid belonging to the genus ''Phalaenopsis''.The pla ...

'' var. ''mentawai''. It was separated from ''Phalaenopsis violacea'' in 2014 by Olaf Gruss.
The genetic evidence allows a distinction of ''Phalaenopsis violacea'' and ''Phalaenopsis mentawaiensis''. However, it does not support a distinction of ''Phalaenopsis violacea'' and ''

Phalaenopsis bellina ''Phalaenopsis bellina'' is an orchid endemic to Borneo. It is one of 75 species of Phalaenopsis and one of the most commonly cultivated species in the genus. Distribution ''Phalaenopsis bellina'' is found in parts of Borneo, growing in the can ...

''. All three taxa were formerly included in ''Phalaenopsis violacea''

sensu lato ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular co ...

Conservation

International trade is regulated through the

CITES appendix II CITES (shorter name for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of interna ...

regulations of international trade.

References

mentawaiensis Orchids of Indonesia Orchids of Sumatra Epiphytic orchids Plants described in 2014 {{Phalaenopsis-stub