Dancing lady orchids coming to US stores
Oncidiums sold for the home market put on a colorful show that's different from the Phalaenopsis orchids that consumers are used to seeing. Phalaenopsis orchids have broad, flat leaves and produce perhaps a dozen large flowers in white, pink, purple and a variety of mottled colors (including a jarring blue that's the result of a dye). Oncidium orchids, on the other hand, typically have thin leaves and produce long, branching sprays of numerous, small yellow flowers.
Both types of orchids are imported from Taiwan, where some species of Phalaenopsis grow naturally. Oncidiums are joining Phalaenopsis on store shelves due to an agreement between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Taiwanese government. The agreement allows Taiwan orchid growers to ship the plants in a growing medium like sphagnum moss to the United States. Prior to the ruling, which became effective March 7, Taiwan could only ship Oncidiums bare root to the U.S. Without the protective growing medium, the plants had be shipped quickly by overnight air, making it prohibitively expensive to transport them in large quantities.
Some Taiwan orchid growers have already filed applications to export Oncidiums to the U.S. Taiwanese officials said it will take at least four months to get the plants ready for shipping and couldn't say when the plants will be will be available to American consumers.
Read more at Mother Nature Network
