Blue vanda

One of the few orchids with truly blue flowers – it grows wild in the mountains of northern Thailand.

The blue vanda is an epiphytic orchid with thick aerial roots and leathery leaves arranged in two rows. In autumn it produces sprays of large, flat flowers in shades from pale blue to violet, covered in a net-like pattern. It grows on trees in open deciduous and oak–pine forests at 800–1,700 m, where winters can be cool. Because of mass collection for collectors it is protected under CITES, and in cultivation it has become the parent of many hybrids.

Significance in the country

Thailand is a world leader in orchid exports, and the blue vanda is one of its most prized native species. Wild sites around Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son are covered by conservation and reintroduction programmes.

Where it grows

Wild only in the mountains of northern and north-western Thailand – in Chiang Mai, Mae Hong Son, Chiang Rai, Tak, Lampang, Nan and Phayao provinces, in forests above about 800 m.

More: Wikipedia (en)