Gen info
- There are about 141 genera of orchids representing about 1,100 orchid species, 900 of which are endemic to the Philippines.
- Tawa-tawa (Bell orchid) is often considered as one of the largest of all orchid species.
- Two similar-looking Grammatophyllum species are cause of frequent confusion: Grammatophyllum scriptum and G. multiflorum. (11)

Botany
• Tawa-tawa is an epiphytic orchid which is variable in size. Pseudobulbs are stout, ovoid or fusiform, terete, and 12 to 20 centimeters long. Leaves are oblanceolate, oblong, and 20 to 40 centimeters long. Racemes with the peduncle are 0.6 to 1.5 meters long, spreading, and nodding or pendulous. Flowers are numerous, each about 5 to 8 centimeters across. Sepals and petals are obovate-oblong, yellowish-green, and covered with large, reddish-brown blotches. Lip is three-lobed, and yellow with purple nerves. Column is incurved. Anther is orbicular and hairy, the pollinia subglobose.

• Epiphytic plants forming large compact clumps. Pseudobulbs ovoid, up to 25 cm long, few-leaved. Leaves distichous, lanceolat, petiolate, up to about 70 by 3.5-8 cm. Inflorescences lateral, arcuate, many-flowered. Flowers large. Median sepal ovate, 2.5-3 by 1.5-2 cm. Lateral sepals ovate, 2.8-3.3 by 1.5-1.7 cm. Petals spatulate, 2.7-3 by 1.2-1.4 cm. Lip 3-lobed towards the apex, 1.9-2.2 by 1.6-2 cm, hairy all over, the mid-lobe semicircular to transversely elliptic-triangular, the callus of 2 ridges. Column 1.3-1.7 cm long. (After Lewis and Cribb, 1991). (12)

Distribution
- Native to the Philippines. (7)
- Widely distributed in the Philippines, from sea level to an altitude of 500 meters.
- In Leyte; Mindanao: Zamboanga, Zamboanga del Sur; Mindoro, Palawan, Samar, Sarangani.
(7)
- Also native to Bismarck Archipelago, Maluku, New Guinea, Santa Cruz Is., Solomon Is. (5)
- Due to large size, rarely found in cultivation outside botanical institutions.

Parts used
Pseudobulbs, leaves.

Uses
Folkloric
- In upland Cavite, decoction of leaves used for fever and colds, cough and flu. (3)
- In Indonesia, paste of pseudobulb put on sores or applied to the stomach to expel worms and malignant tumors. Decoction of whole plant used to expel worms.
- In Indonesia, paste from pseudobulbs pounded together with Curcuma domestica (turmeric) is applied on fingers afflicted with whitlow (bacrterial infection of the nailbed). (4)
- Paste of bulb used for treating sores and intestinal afflictions.
- Macerated orchid used for treating aphthae.
- Used as part of diet for dysentery.
- In the Siiwai and Buin districts of Bougainville, stems used by mothers who have delivered but are not lactating. (2)
Others
- Love spells: In the Moluccas, the seeds have been added to a woman's food to cast a love spell and ensnare her for life.

Studies
• Analgesic: Study evaluated the potential of G. scriptum as an analgesic. The methodology involved predicton of drug-likeness, ADMET analysis, and docking simulations of the compound against COX-1 and COX-2 receptors to evaluate the potential as analgesic. Results showed Apigenin-7-O-α- L-rhamnose(1-4)-6-O-acetyl-ß-D-glucoside exhibited favorable characteristics as a drug molecule. All compounds demonstrated appropriate ADMET predictions but none of the compounds exhibited strong binding to the COX receptors. Kushenol H, a specific compound, displaced relatively good energy levels and exhibited binding to COX-1 and -2 receptors. (8)

Availability
- Wild-crafted.
- Cultivated.

Additional Sources and Suggested Readings
(1)
The uses and misuses of orchids in medicine / C.J. Bulpitt / QJM: An International Journal of Medicine Volume 98, Issue 9Pp. 625-631
(2)
An ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants used in the Siwai and Buin districts of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville/ Julie Waruruai, Beuluah Sipana, Michael Kock, Louis R Barrows, Teatulohi K Matainaho, and Prem P Raja / J Ethnopharmacol., 18 Nov 2011; 138(2): pp 564-577 / DOI:  10.1016/j.jep.2011.09.052
(3)
COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINES AMONG RESIDENTS IN UPLAND CAVITE, PHILIPPINES: THEIR KNOWLEDGE, PATTERNS OF USE AND ATTITUDES / Johnny A Ching, Rodante G Flores and Maxima J Acelajado / Journal of Experimental Biology and Agricultural Sciences, April 2016; 4(2) / DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18006/2016.4(2)133.141
(4)
Grammatophyllum scriptum / Eng Soon Teoh / Medicinal Orchids of Asia
(5)
Grammatophyllum scriptum / Synonyms / TKEW: Plants of the World Online
(7)
Grammatophyllum scriptum / Co's Digital Flora of the Philippines
(8)
Drug Likeness, Admet Prediction, and Molecular Docking of Compounds on Grammatophyllum Scriptum (Lindl.) Bl. as Analgesic / Krisna Dewi, E Simaremare, Michael Kurniawan et al / Journal of Pharmacology, 2023 / DOI: 10.46610/jprd.2023.v05i02.001 / Corpus ID: 259531356
(9)
Grammatophylum scriptum / Wikipedia
(10)
List of the orchids of the Philippines / Wikipedia
(11)
How to tell Grammatophyllum multiflorum and G. scriptum apart / Jardinerong Sunog (the Burnt Gardener) / Blogspot, 2018
(12)
Grammatophyllum scriptum / Orchids of New Guinea

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