Due to these highly variable mutant forms this species has been proposed as a model organism for floral development in orchids.

[5] Vanda falcata grows as an epiphyte on the branches and trunks of both deciduous and evergreen trees, and occasionally as a lithophyte on rock cliffs and man-made stone walls.

Numerous whitish roots grow from the base of the plant, anchoring it to its host or substrate and collecting nutrients washed down from above.

Plants receive heaviest rainfall during East Asian rainy season: June and July in southern Japan.

For the next hundred years and more, the species was renamed and moved in and out of many of the Asian sarcanthoid genera, in addition to the African genus Angraecum.

Written records of V. falcata cultivation first appeared in Gao Lian’s The Anthography during the late Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644) China.

In Japan, the first documented records of V. falcata appear during the Kanbun era (1661-1673), later reaching a peak in popularity during the middle of the Edo period with a marked increase in the number of cultivated varieties.