Coelogyne sulphurea

Our Coelogyne sulphurea plant is the single leaved variety of the species that is found in Borneo, Java, Malaysia, Philippines and Sumatra. The two leaved variety, only found on Mount Kinabalu, Sabah, is Coelogyne sulphurea var, crassifiolia.

Coelogyne sulphurea is reported from 600-2700m altitude indicating a wide tolerance of temperatures and we find the species to be very happy in our cloud forest greenhouse (min 12C).

The species produces its new growths around midsummer that grow rapidly and produce upright spikes of around 10-15 creamy flowers with attractive pink bracts. Flowers have a lovely lip with a large orange blotch.

We keep plants well watered when in growth (Summer and autumn) and a little dryer when resting (winter and spring). We find that plants seem to appreciate good light, responding with multiple growths and heavy flowering.

We have grown this species for many years under the name Chelonistele sulphurea but  Chelonistele has recently been included in Coelogyne (which makes sense to us).