I told my boyfriend that I probably don't have to buy it because there's purple phals offered everywhere.

I buy plants because I love them, and for orchids, because of the bloom.I don't buy them just because they are unusual or rare. To me, even the most common of colors or plants can still be beautiful.

I do think that velvety purple one is a lovely orchid.

I hope it's still there, too! I'm not familiar enough with the named phals to tell you if any out there have the similar feature, but maybe someone else here knows of a few you can look for in case this guy is not there anymore.

It's entirely possible the feature is unique to that plant; I have a peloric phal that was given to me after it bloomed by a friend with a black thumb. I had no idea it had the wonderful little deformity until I got it to rebloom. It's just a generic no-name supermarket plant, but it's one of my favorites.

I have a range of orchids, expensive to bargain bin, rare to super common no-names, and I've actually brought some of the more "desirable" plants to the raffle table at my orchid meeting and saved the generic NOIDs because they are, to me, the most beautiful in my collection.

I agree Lucille, I've made it my principle to buy based on whether I like it or not and not based on its rarity or prestige. I didn't actually like this phal much in person. It wasn't until I took a second look at the photo a few days later that I developed a connection to it :)

Thanks arthurm! Luckily I'm not too concerned about identifying it's name or lineage. I was just wondering if the wavy side lobes are considered a notable characteristic that is difficult to breed. In my opinion it probably is a bit difficult to get such a subtle trait in a small part of the flower.

Me too Dannie! I maybe it is a slight peloric feature of some sort who knows. I'm crossing my fingers that it's not unique to that plant lol. My boyfriend wanted to help me go back this upcoming weekend and get the orchid but we both got pretty sick this week. I don't see us making that return trip for the phal :'( Hopefully everyone is sick of phals from the holidays and that variety will still be there! I agree, there are some NOIDs that are just gorgeous. One upside to all the hybridizing phals go through :)

I'm happy to say that I went back to IKEA on Sunday and nabbed me one of the purple orchids from my original photo!! There were only 4 left and each one has the wavy trait on the side lobes. I tried to pick the one with the healthiest looking roots/crown but it was also the one with the least waviness on its flowers compared to the others. I won't complain though, I'm grateful it was even in stock. There were a lot of phals for sale at IKEA that were probably leftover from the holidays. If you guys are interested then check them out :) This purple one has become my favorite out of all my phals.

It doesn't matter all that much if an orchid is a Noid, you can still enter it in an orchid show. If you have a name you can track back through the ancestry to see which species Phalaenopsis were used in making your hybrid.

You might want a fragrant Phalaenopsis, if so, you might look for Hybrids with

Phalaenopsis violacea as a parent, but of course you might have to go to an orchid nursery to find them, and

Here is a pic. of a typical no name "miniature" phalaenopsis flowering about a year after purchase. Some of the lip shape might come from Phalaenopsis equestris.

The pics in this link might give an idea of the enormous variation in Phalaenopsis Hybrid Blooms.

Orchid Society Phalaenopsis Hybrid Pics

Thanks arthurm! The shape of a Violacea hasn't been burned into my memories yet but I try to look out for traits that might signal fragrance. The traits of a phal Schilleriana traits is obvious for me so I recognize them but I need to keep studying more images of the Violacea and Bellina before I can see those traits in the hybrids. Those two look so similar to me. And I don't mind at all anymore whether an orchid is a Noid :)

That orchid reminded me Beer Queen.