Khonghampat Orchidarium

The Khonghampat Orchidarium (Meitei: Khonghampat Urei Leikol) is a botanical garden in Imphal, Manipur.^[2] It is dedicated to the collection, cultivation, preservation and display of a wide range of 500 varieties of orchids found in Manipur.^[1] It houses some of the rarest orchids in the world.^[1] The peak blooming season of the orchid flowers is from April to July.^[2][3] The finest visiting season is March-April.^[4] This Orchidarium is the orchid centre of the Forest Department of Manipur.^[5]

Khonghampat Orchidarium (Khonghampat Urei Leikol)
Type	Orchidarium
Location	Khonghampat, Imphal, Manipur
Size	200[1] acres (81 ha)
Number of species	500[1]
Collections	500 orchid species including many from genuses - Dendrobium, Vanda and Rhynchostylis
Opened	1976
Owned by	Manipur Forest Department

History

The Khonghampat Orchidarium (Meitei: Khonghampat Urei Leikol) was founded by the Manipur Forest Department in the year 1976.^[2]

Features

The Khonghampat Orchidarium (Meitei: Khonghampat Urei Leikol) covers an area of 200 acres of land.^[6]

Predominant genuses of the orchid species grown in the orchidarium include Vanda, Dendrobium and Rhynchostylis.^[2] A few of the species are the following:

Orchid species	Local names	Latin Roman transliterations	Images
Vanda ampullacea (Ascocentrum ampullaceum)	ꯅꯥꯆꯣꯝ ꯂꯩ	Nachom Lei
Dendrobium chrysotoxum	ꯈꯣꯉꯨꯃꯦꯂꯩ	Khongumelei
Dendrobium chrysanthum	ꯃꯦꯔꯥ ꯂꯩꯈꯝ	Mera Leikham
Dendrobium moschatum	ꯏꯉꯥꯂꯩ (ꯏꯉꯦꯂꯩ)	Engallei (Engellei, Ingallei, Ingellei)
Dendrobium pendulum	ꯇꯥꯡꯀꯛꯂꯩ	Tangkaklei
Dendrobium wardianum	ꯌꯦꯔꯨꯝ ꯂꯩ ꯇꯥꯡꯖꯧꯕꯤ	Yerum Lei Tangjoubi
Rhynchostylis retusa	ꯁꯝꯖꯤꯔꯩ	Samjirei
Vanda coerulea	ꯀ꯭ꯋꯥꯛꯂꯩ	Kwaklei