The redeeming feature for Coelogyne miniata is the very unusual orange/red flower colouring. It is a really straggly, rambling orchid and luckily it is only small. It generally has 2 to 3 roughly simultaneously opening, very closed flowers per spike.

The name 'miniata' means red lead and this Coelogyne shares its name with a number of other plants that have orange/red flowers, e.g. Eucalyptus, miniata, Clivia miniata, Grevillea miniata.

It originates from the west coast of Sumatra, Bali and Java but is found at altitudes up to 2500 metres. This lends it a small degree of toughness but it likes high humidity and plenty of water. It is very easy to grow and flower in these conditions. 

Negatives: The flower clusters are very small, the flower is small and the flowers don't open up nicely. Additionally, it is a very straggly plant.

Rating: ♦♦♦  If you fall into the orchid collector category or simply love really unusual orchids, then this one is for you.

Varieties: None known

Hybrids: None registered. Even though the flower colour is attractive there are too many other disadvantages. It would not be satisfactory as a pollen parent because small flowers produce small pollen tubes that have difficulty growing long enough to fertilise a large flower. Sometimes size does matter!

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