Variations in Phalaenopsis pallens

Phalaenopsis pallens was first described as a species under Trichoglottis by John Lindley in 1850
and then was transferred by Heinrich Reichenbach f. to Stauropsis in 1860. But four years later he changed his mind and moved Lindley's species to Phalaenopsis, where it remains to this day. The species is endemic to the Philippines on the islands of Luzon (Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Vizcaya, and Rizal), Palawan (Puerto Princesa), and Mindanao (Bukidnon). This is a low altitude species that occurs at elevations of about 200-500 m above sea level. The species name is Latin for 'pale'.

In this post, I am presenting to you some of the variations seen in the species. The specimen above is quite typical with pale, sienna-colored markings and a white and orange labellum. Contrast that to the two examples below, with (brown-) reddish broken lines and a labellum in orange, purple-pink, and white.:

This P. pallens have more pronounced markings that fade to brownish-yellow as the flowers age; it is typical for this species' markings to lighten up as anthesis progresses:

Phalaenopsis pallens labellum profile, from above:

Phalaenopsis pallens with acuminate perianth tips and broad labella:

The peduncles of this species initially start out erect, but become arching due to the weight of the progressively forming flowers:

The labellum edges of some specimens can bend downwards sufficiently enough to present an almost arrow-head profile when seen from above. In this specimen, the narrow labellum profile is not apparent when seen up front...

...but becomes obvious from above. The species has one distinct named variety, var. trullifera, which is characterized by a trowel-shaped labellum even when flattened. This one isn't and therefore cannot be designated as that variety.

A boldly-marked individual:

Illustrated below is an example with a very reduced number of perianth markings. The labellum is almost pure white save for diffused lines on both sides of the labellum:

Albinistic forms of P. pallens are known as P. pallens fma. alba but this designation is only applied on those albino forms without markings on the sepals and the petals. There are albinistic forms that do have floral markings, such as on the two plants illustrated below; notice the very narrow perianth segments of the first one.

As a side note, remember that 'alba' means 'white', and so the alba designation to the albino form is ambiguous at best as these flowers are yellow, not white.

This albino form is distinctly greenish:

And this one below is the archetypal P. pallens fma. alba. As you can see, the flower is creamy yellow, not white as the name 'alba' suggests:

And finally, here is the 'true' Phalaenopsis pallens var. trullifera. Note the acutely pointed labellum. 

There is another named variety, var. denticulata, and I reckon that the varietal name refers to the denticulate ('with small teeth') margins of the labellum, which in reality is seen in many specimens of this species anway. It has been said that it differs from typical pallens "in having the markings as brown spots or broken lines on the creamy white sepals, and the white lip has two or three parallel purplish magenta lines on either side of the center keel on the midlobe (Sweet, 1980)." However, as Dr. Sweet also mentioned, there is no morphological distinction by which this supposed variety stands, and therefore is best ignored.

I do not know about you, but of these variations, I think I like the ones with the few, yet intense markings the most!