Neobathiea grandidierana

Neobathiea is a small Angraecoid genus with 6 recognized species; N. comet-halei, N. grandidierana, N. hirtula, N. keraudrenae, N. perrieri, and N. spatulata.  All 6 species are endemic to Madagascar and the Comoros (Cribbs and Hermans 2009).  Among these, N. grandidierana seems to have the widest geographic distribution, and it occurs both in Madagascar and in the Comoro Islands.  Within Madagascar, it is found in Antsiranana, Antananarivo, Fianarantsoa, and Toliara, covering from the northern end to the southern end (Cribbs and Hermans 2009).  In the Comoros, it occurs in Anjouan and Grande Comore (Stewart et al. 2006).  The habitat of this species is in humid forest on west-faching slopes at the elevation range of 1000-1650m (Stewart et al. 2006).  In nature, this species seems to flower in spring to early summer.


This plant came from Malala import by Louisiana Orchid Connection (LOC).  During the Redland International Orchid Festival in 2016, Tin and John of LOC showed me this freshly imported plant when I visited their tent. Although my previous attempt ended up with a quickly perished plant, this plant looked so healthy (for a fresh import), I decided to give it another try.  The plant produced four new leaves in 9 months, but these new leaves are much smaller than the original leaves, so it is still recovering from the import.  I would have removed the flower shoots, but the shoots were already pretty big when I noticed them, so I let it bloom.  I hope that it doesn't put too much stress.

Culture: I have had it for less than 1 year, so I'm not sure if this is a good condition or not.  I'm growing it at the cool end of intermediate; max/min of 27/18C (80/65F) in the summer and 18/13C (65/55F) in the winter.  I'm using relatively weak light (a little bit more than Paphiopedilum).  I water every day in the summer, but I water it every other day in the winter.

Note that when the flower opens, it is greenish like this for a couple days, then it turns to whiter.  This flower is about 2 day old, and the other three photos in the beginning of this post is about 7-10 days old.

The greener flower closer to the camera is the newer flower, and the one behind the leaf is the flower which has been open for 7-10 days.  It appears that the spur seems to extend a little bit after the flower opens.

Literature cited:

• Cribb, P. and J. Hermans, 2009. Field Guide to the Orchids of Madagascar (p. 304), Kew Publishing, UK.
• Stewart, J., J. Hermans, and B. Campbell,  2006. Angraecoid Orchids: Species from the African Region (p.197), Timber Press, Oregon, USA.