Botanical name: Coelogyne cristata    Family: Orchidaceae (Orchid family)

Crested Coelogyne is a very common orchid found growing on forest trees in the Himalayas, from Uttarakhand to Sikkim, at altitudes of 1000-2000 m. Joseph Hooker, who collected orchids and other plants in 1848-1850, recorded that "On the ascent from Darjeeling the straight shafts of many of the timber trees are literally clothed with a continuous garment of white-flowered coelogynes, which bloom in a profuse manner, whitening their trunks like snow". Flowers are white, in hanging clusters, with a white lip with 4 yellow ridges at the base between the lateral lobes, and with 2 broad crenulate yellow plates on the mid-lobe. Flowers are 5-9 cm across, borne in 3-10 flowered clusters 15-20 cm long. Sepals and petals are 4-5 cm long, oblong blunt with wavy margins. Bracts are oblong and persistent. Spur is absent. Leaves are paired, linear-lanceshaped 15-30 cm long, 2-3 cm broad. Pseudobulbs are oblong ovoid, 5-8 cm, arising from a stout rhizome. Flowering: March-April.
Medicinal uses: Juice of the pseudobulb is applied to boils. This juice is also put in the wound on the hooves of animals.

Your name:
Your email:
Your comments
The flower labeled Crested Coelogyne is ...