They are Phalaenopsis hybrids and are marketed without names to keep the price down.

If you had the names you could track the lineage back through the Royal Horticultural Database of orchid names.

They are only common in the sense that it is possible to produce thousands of copies by the mericlone process.

They are beautiful! Happy growing

Your mini phals are pretty. The mutation is more correctly called a peloric bloom.

Welcome to the forum, lots of great information to be had here. For starters, on the front page (across the top) you'll find FAQ. An incredible reference for searching out info regarding growing orchids.

sheila

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction Sheila! I'm loving that peloric bloom, puts a nice spin on the phal look.

Thanks rumbiz and arthurm! No wonder the orchids never have labeled names. As a newbie, I'm ok with that for now until I start getting more addicted to orchids. I will be adding one more mini to my mini orchid collection. I just hope it's still at the shop where I left it

Wow Dannie, you have great luck!! The two phal's given to you are so beautiful. The few shops near me that carry phal's can't even compare, I'm serious! I'm still expanding my search for shops that carry wider varieties of phal's at the least. Not that many places have phal's other than plain white/pink/purple. Is your mini IKEA phal fragrant? I've seen someone on YouTube with a mini phal almost exactly like yours and theirs is fragrant! I'm keeping my eye out for that color and pattern incase it is fragrant.

It doesn't matter all that much if the orchid name is Unknown. Orchid judges look at the blooms, not name tags.

Some high quality Phalaenopsis blooms are sold at Ikea. etc.

The link shows a Phalenopsis with Novice (new grower) champion rosette at an orchid show. The lady owner had to grow it for a year or so before she could put it on the show bench.

Phalaenopsis with Champion Rosette

That's a very pretty orchid. I actually saw one just like that at one of the shops I frequent. It was a purple color with white lining the petals! What I meant by perusing for variety is that I like seeing orchids with quirks or traits different from the typical solid common colors. Differences like shape of the petals or lips, pattern, coloring, leaves etc. The orange and red veined fragrant phal I saw on YouTube was also a NOID phal :) I've seen people talk about finding fragrances in their NOID plants so I'm keeping a lookout for certain characteristic shapes or patterns

None of my NOID have scent, unfortunately. I had another like the one Arthur linked to above, and even though it was vibrant and adorable, it's my least favorite color, so I traded it to someone who loves fuchsia. However, I have another I pulled nearly dead out of a trash can, and that one ended up having a great pattern on it! So even though it's a color I'm not a huge fan of, it's unusual enough to keep around.

Had to go:

Staying ... for now:

I just purchased another mini NOID that I found to have a soapy fragrance and coincidentally it looks just like the one you traded away! I'm not too big of a fan of fuchsia either but the color is very vibrant and has a slight fragrance so I'm letting it live with me for now :)

That pink is a BOLD color! You lucked out with a fragrant phal, that's for sure. I'm partial to either the deeper colors, like the one in your first post, or the patterned/spotted guys. The vibrant pink is great, but if I pass it along to someone who will love it, it makes room for my next fave, lol!

That's how I've been justifying these mini phal's. I tell myself that I can always give them away as gifts if I need to make space for more orchids lol. I like the very bold colors and fun patterns too. It's both extremes for me, bold/deep and vibrant or very pastel! I couldnt resist at IKEA and got another mini. Hopefully it's my last one for a good while

This morning I came in to work to discover a spike on my Sedirea japonica (I believe it's also now called a Phal. japonica; it does look like a little phal). It was my first "serious" orchid, and bloomed for the first time last winter after a few years of coddling ... and mistakes. I rebloom my phals all the time, but this one sends me to the moon! I also found a spike on the tiny peloric I linked to above. Yayyyyy!

I don't know how I missed your latest comment on this thread! That's so exciting!! I've seen videos of the japonica and I love that its so small and fragrant too. Is it still putting out blooms? The weather has been so cold that the flowers on my mini phals don't last very long because I keep them a bit too close to the window. It's such a rush to see a spike poking through! How long does it take for them to grow large enough to form buds?! I have a couple of phals that are actually producing secondary spikes! A spike poking through a node on the first spike! Can't wait for a larger display

I love when they branch like that! Most of my phals take between 2 and 3 months to get to blooms, and each seems to have its own pace and that pace can best be described as GLACIAL. I get so impatient. To illustrate this point: I found new spikes on the two orchids I mentioned above on the same day. As you see from the photo below, taken this morning, the S. japonica has one bud left to open, while the small peloric is still plodding along, slow as you please.

I have no idea why the japonica grew so fast. A friend's spiked at the same time, and it's not even close to opening yet. ELEVEN flowers! I'm really happy with it, and it smells amazing, especially in the morning.

Omg absolutely stunning!! I need myself a japonica now, the creamy white and purple stripes are beautiful and a fragrance to boot! Ahh! I also find it so strange how some phals are much more vigorous than others. I left my white mini phal in the original photos ignored for a long time by a drafty window and it's still alive! The flowers are drying out and falling slowly but the orchid isn't in bad condition just a bit dehydrated. But one of the new mini phals I got at TJ's a couple of weeks ago already dropped all its flowers and that one has been hydrated with fat swollen roots!

I so admire those of you that can grow these beautiful flowers!! I have had a number of orchids in the past. Only one ever bloomed a second time. The rest just died slow painful deaths. I'm sure I probably watered them too much and too often. I wish I knew the right conditions for them to survive as a houseplant. I love seeing your gorgeous plants. Thanks for sharing them.