Chapter 23 Phalaenopsis Chia-Chi Hsu, Hong-Hwa Chen, and Wen-Huei Chen Abstract Phalaenopsis is one of the most popular cultivated orchids worldwide. So far, 92 native species and 34,112 hybrids of Phalaenopsis have been registered in the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), but only 18 native species are frequently used for breeding. In Phalaenopsis market, large flowers with various colors are most popular. Phal. amabilis and Phal. aphrodite are the major species used for breeding the white-and-large-flower hybrids. The colored hybrids include pink, red- to- purple, green, yellow-to-orange, and black colors, as well as distinct colors in tepals with red lip. For large-and-red flowers,Phal. schilleriana and Phal. sanderiana are the major parent species, whereas Phal. equestris and Phal. pulcherrima are important for the development of the small- and medium-sized red flowers. Members of the subgenusPolychilos are the most important ancestors for yellow-to-orange flowers. More recently, there is an increased interest in plants with white, pink, or yellow colors with red stripes and/or spots. These traits are introduced from Phal. lindenii, Phal. stuartiana, and Phal. amboinensis. Furthermore, harlequin flowers which have clown-like spots and very complicated color patterns are released in the market, as well as hybrids with peloric and Bigfoot flowers. Besides color, scent and (a)biotic stress resistance are becoming important targets in Phalaenopsis breeding. Keywords Bigfoot · Breeding · Harlequin · Orchids · Peloric · Phalaenopsis C.-C. Hsu Department of Life Sciences, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan H.-H. Chen Department of Life Sciences, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan Orchid Research and Development Center, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan e-mail: [email protected] W.-H. Chen (*) Orchid Research and Development Center, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan © Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018 567 J. Van Huylenbroeck (ed.), Ornamental Crops, Handbook of Plant Breeding 11, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90698-0_23 568 C.-C. Hsu et al. 23.1 Introduction Phalaenopsis is named with “phalaina” for moth and “opsis” for appearance and is commonly known as “moth orchids”. Phalaenopsis has an unique and beautiful flower morphology. Three sepals are in the outer whorl of the flowers, coming with two petals and one specialized lip. The column with the fused stamen and carpel is located within the center of the flowers. The morphology and colors of sepals and petals are very similar, and together they are called tepals. In contrast, the lip is derived from the specialization of a petal, but its shape and color are very different from petals. The specialized lip has made the flower zygomorphic, and the entire flower is similar to a flying butterfly. Phalaenopsis has an infinite inflorescence, which can have many flowers, and the flowers can last for a long time. All these features made that Phalaenopsis is currently the most successful and popular genus within the Orchidaceae for the ornamental flower market. According to the records in the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), consulted with the OrchidWiz Orchid Database Software, there are 92 native species of Phalaenopsis worldwide, including the merge of genus Doritis, Hygrochilus, Kingidium, Lesliea, Nothodoritis, Ornithochilus, and Sedirea (OrchidWiz 2017). Based on the characterization of Christenson (2001), these native species can be divided into five subgenera, including Aphyllae, Parishianae, Phalaenopsis, Polychilos, and Proboscidioides. Only 18 species belong to the subgenera Phalaenopsis and Polychilos, but these species are among the most frequently used breeding parents for numerous cultivars. At present, a total of 34,112 hybrids have been bred and officially registered in the RHS database (OrchidWiz 2017). 23.2 Phalaenopsis Markets in the World Phalaenopsis is the number one potted ornamental plant in the world market (Chen 2017). Based on the survey data from Taiwan Orchid Growers Association in 2014, the orchid growers from the Netherlands and Taiwan nearly dominate the world with their large-scale production and supply of orchid plants. 23.2.1 Phalaenopsis Market in European Union The European market with 160 million pots sold each year is the biggest in the world. The Netherlands is the major producer of Phalaenopsis orchids in Europe. Different needs can be distinguished for different countries. The Netherlands prefers Phalaenopsis with two or three floral stalks displaying any flower size and color. The consumer in the UK prefers orchids with one long floral stalk showing large flowers (>10 cm in width). People in the Nordic countries adore plants with two 23 Phalaenopsis 569 floral stalks and medium-sized flowers (7~10 cm). The north of Italy prefers the ones with large flowers, while the south Italian people enjoy the ones with small flowers (2~7 cm). Overall for the Phalaenopsis market in Europe, the major trend is to have two to three floral stalks with many flowers in medium size. About 65% of the production are 12 cm pots with 6.5~10 cm flowers, while either 9 cm pots with 6.5~10 cm flowers or 6 cm pots with 4~5.5 cm flowers count for 15%. The large flowers (10~12 cm) occupy around 10% and are produced in 15 cm pots. The costs for plants varied from 1.5~2.5, 3.5, and 4~5 Euro for one, two, and three stalks, respectively. Thus, the hybrids which are prone to produce many floral stalks and flowers are well accepted. Phalaenopsis orchid flowers in various colors are well established in Europe, although the high-intensity and deep colors are preferred. Other important characteristics are easily grown plants, easy flowering, resistance to pathogens, and plants with many stalks and flowers. 23.2.2 Phalaenopsis Market in the USA In the American market, about 24 million pots are sold each year. The American Orchid Society (AOS) is the biggest association for orchid breeders. Overall, American people prefer large plants with large flowers (8~13 cm) (Table 23.1). People in the east of America love the plants with large flowers and white color, while the western American people prefer the large flowers with various colors. For large flowers, the plants with two floral stalks are the better choices. The inflorescence has to contain more than nine flowers with flower widths more than 11 cm. White flowers occupy 50~70% of the market in the East, including 5% for the white flowers with red lip. The pink and red colors are about 10~20% of the assortment. The ratios of yellow flowers, yellow flowers with red lip, and black flowers have been increased more recently. The medium flowers (5~9 cm in width) have 2 floral stalks with 7 flowers on each stalk and are produced in various colors, including pink, red, purple-to-red, Table 23.1 The major preferred Phalaenopsis orchids in the USA Pot size Percentage Flower width (cm) Height of floral stalks (cm) East 2″ (6 cm) 5% 4.5~5 25~28 3″ (9 cm) 20% 6~7.5 42~45 4″ (12 cm) 60% 8~10 55~60 5″ (15 cm) 15% 10~13 60~70 West 2″ (6 cm) 5% 4.5~5 25~30 3″ (9 cm) 30% 5.8~7 35~42 4″ (12 cm) 50% 8.5~10 55~60 5″ (15 cm) 15% 10~13 60~70 570 C.-C. Hsu et al. Table 23.2 Top 10 countries of Taiwan Phalaenopsis plants export in 2014 No. Country Weight (metric ton) Value (thousand US$) Percentage 1 USA 4890 53,943 41.90% 2 Japan 2750 34,284 26.60% 3 Vietnam 1133 6814 5.30% 4 Australia 525 6762 5.30% 5 Netherlands 355 5867 4.60% 6 Canada 482 3734 2.90% 7 England 124 2919 2.30% 8 Korea 152 1913 1.50% 9 La Réunion 175 1678 1.30% 10 Hong Kong 243 1629 1.30% 11 Others 897 9177 7.10% yellow, and orange colors, as well as white flower with red lip or spots, yellow flow- ers with red lip, stripes, or spots. The small flowers are not popular in America. 23.2.3 Phalaenopsis Market in Asia Totally, the Phalaenopsis market in Asia is estimated at 84 million pots each year, including 60 million in China, 14 million in Japan, and 10 million in Southeast Asia. More than 85% of Phalaenopsis in China are large flowers with red color, while Japanese people prefer the large-and-white flowers (80% of market share). Taiwan is the major exporting country in the region, and also the most new Phalaenopsis hybrids have been bred there (Table 23.2). 23.3 Directions of Phalaenopsis Breeding 23.3.1 Major Ornamental Traits for Phalaenopsis Flowers Flower color is the most important characteristic. Although white is still dominating the market, various other colors including pink, red, purple-to-red, yellow, orange, green, and black colors are breeding targets. Flowers with various pigmentation patterns, meaning two or more colors present in one flower which forms a pattern, such as the distinct colors in tepals with red lip, or the white or yellow flowers with red stripes or spots, are getting more interest. Based on the flower sizes of the bred hybrids, they can be divided in three groups – large, medium, and small flowers for >10 cm, 7~10 cm, and < 7 cm in width, respectively. Sometimes, the flowers with deranged morphology were found, 23 Phalaenopsis 571 but only the stable and beautiful ones were retained. Otherwise, they were discarded as mutants. Two types of them have been often used, the peloric and the Bigfoot flowers. The peloric flowers contain two petals converted to lip-like petal, while the Bigfoot flowers display a petal-like lip morphology.