Eria sp. - ID speculation welcome

[Sue]

This one was labeled Eria gigantea, and came along with an identical plant (now bloomed out, and clearly not just vegetatively identical) labeled Gomesa recurva. So, I don't trust the label to begin with, plus this doesn't look like the (few) pics I've found of E. gigantea.

It is clearly an Eria species. It looks rather like what Jay's has marked as E. japonica: http://www.orchidspecies.com/eriajaponica.htm But other sources show E. japonica as looking quite different: http://cosmos.cool.ne.jp/Orchid/gn/Eria.htm

Really, it looks rather like a giant E. javanica (syn. stellata) - much larger plant, many more flowers, larger flowers, and negrohirsute inflorescence.

Any thoughts are welcome.

 

[SlipperFan]

Could be Eria japonica:
http://orchidspecies.com/eriajaponica.htm

 

[Sue]

It is clearly an Eria species. It looks rather like what Jay's has marked as E. japonica: http://www.orchidspecies.com/eriajaponica.htm But other sources show E. japonica as looking quite different: http://cosmos.cool.ne.jp/Orchid/gn/Eria.htm

oke:

 

[SlipperFan]

I was just confirming.

 

[Sue]

Oh - gotcha.

 

[Park Bear]

looks nice, I don't have a guess, but I could do as Dot and re-confirm if you'd like

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

It is clearly an Eria species. It looks rather like what Jay's has marked as E. japonica: http://www.orchidspecies.com/eriajaponica.htm But other sources show E. japonica as looking quite different: http://cosmos.cool.ne.jp/Orchid/gn/Eria.htm

Definitely not E. japonica (AKA E. reptans). It does look consistent with E. javanica, but with such a large genus it is hard to say. Jay has mislabeled E. japonica. The second link shows a true E. japonica.

 

[kellyincville]

It looks similar to my javanica (though mine's not nearly as large) but I'm not an expert on the genus.

 

[Sue]

Ok, time for some side-by-sides. My E. javanica is on the right, and the E. species in question is on the left. I think the flower structure is similar, but not identical, and the growths seem rather different – especially the backbulbs. Plus the whole plant is larger, and the inflorescence thicker, more densely flowered, and longer.

I just don't know. I guess I wouldn't be surprised if this is within the range of variation for E. javanica, and Ed Merkle's looks rather intermediate between the two. Has anybody seen an E. javanica that looks more like the sp. on the left than the one on the right?

I guess I'm probably ready to just call it E. javanica.

 

[kellyincville]

I don't have a picture of mine in flower but both its backbulbs and inflorescence look more similar to the plant on the left. FWIW

 

[Sue]

Yes, thanks – I think I'll consider it settled.