Southern California Orchid Species Society

April

Species	Click on thumbnail to see larger photo. Use browser <Back> button to return	Notes	Contact for More Information (roberta@orchidcentral.net unless otherwise noted)

Arpophyllum giganteum		Grows outside (coastal) in a hanging basket. Plant was labled "Arpophyllum spicatum" but the leaves and inflorescence are characteristic of giganteum. The sheath developed about 6 months before the inflorescence emerged, but this was well worth waiting for. Closeup of flowers.
Bulbophyllum falcatum		Grown in greenhouse. Little flowers open along a hard, scaly bract. Closeup of flower.
Cattleya aurantiaca		Grows outside (coastal) in filtered sun. Another plant. There is also a yellow (aurea) form. It is very fragrant.
Coelia triptera		Grows outside (coastal). In between the flowers are spiky bracts that make the developing inflorescence interesting and beautiful even before the flowers open.
Dendrobium amethystoglossum		Can grow outside (coastal) hanging in bright shade, but it seems to do better a little warmer. When moved to an intermediate greenhouse, it flowered better and is putting out new growth. Closeup of flower
Dendrobium hancockii		This tall, graceful plant grows outside (coastal) in filtered sun. The brilliant yellow flowers are fragrant. It can be watered a bit less, and not fertilized in winter, but it seems to do better if it does not dry out too much. It will lose some leaves in winter.
Dendrobium hemimelanoglossum		Grows outside (coastal) except for a few months in winter, when it needs to be kept fairly dry. The plant is mounted, and the half-inch flowers grow on raecemes that hang downward. that The name ("half-black lip") is bigger than the flowers.
Dendrobium nobile		Grown outside. These need to be kept quite dry in winter to bloom (only a little water when the hot, dry winds blow). They also need very little nitrogen, and no fertilzer starting in the early fall, only resuming in the spring when buds appear. There is also an alba form, Den nobile var. virginalis.
Dendrobium palpebrae		Grown in intermediate greenhouse.	Peter T. Lin
Dendrobium prenticei		This tiny plant (leaves are about 1/2 inch, flowers about 1/8 inch) seems to grow and bloom better outside (coastal) in bright shade than it did in a greenhouse. Closeup of flower.
Dendrobium victoriae-reginae		Grown in intermediate greenhouse. (Peter T. Lin) It can grow outside near the coast (Roberta Fox). It is semi-deciduous. It blooms on the previous year's leafless canes, so don't cut old canes unless they are completely shriveled and brown. It continues to bloom on and off through the summer and early fall.	Peter T. Lin
Encyclia vitellina		Grows outside (coastal), mounted, in bright shade. It prefers to be on the cool side, so keeping it shaded and moist in summer is vital.
Epipactis gigantea		This is a California native orchid! It is the easiest to grow in cultivation of any of the native orchids, and occurs in nature throughout the western United States, wherever there is water (even next to springs in the Mojave Desert and Death Valley!) It's common name is "Stream Orchid". Since it is a native, it does not need any special handling in the winter. It goes dormant, but unlike tropical orchids, it does not expect to dry out. (Winter is when it rains in California!) It is a terrestrial orchid, and grows in well-drained soil in a pot (or in the ground if that requirement is met). Its principal requirement is water - prefereably well-aereated. This is the plant, and a closeup of the flower.
Erycina (syn. Psygmorchis) pusilla		Grown in greenhouse. The flower is almost as big as the plant. An inflorescence can produce several flowers in succession, and so should not be cut until it has shrivelled. This was originally classified as Oncidium, has been reclassified more than once.
Leptotes bicolor		Grows outside (coastal) in filtered sun. It grows best on a mount. The flowers are almost as big as the plant.
Masdevallia caudata		Grows outside (coastal) in shade, in a basket. It is kept quite moist, since it is near the mounted plants. Most Masdevallias do not like the summer heat. If they can be kept moist (to benefit from evaporative cooling) and shady, they can tolerate it.
Masdevallia coccinea		Grows outside (coastal) in shade. It needs to be kept as cool as possible in summer. Clay pots can help to keep the roots cool. It exists in a range of "hot" colors. Here's a red one, and a red-purple one.
Masdevallia triangularis		Grows outside (coastal) in shade, as cool as possible.
Maxillaria reichenheimiana		Grown in greenhouse. Note the beautiful leaves, spotted on top and deep red on the underside. Closeup of flower. Here is the plant.
Maxillaria richii		Grown in greenhouse
Phalaenopsis mannii		Grown in greenhouse. This is Phal. mannii f. alba. It is fragrant. Closeup of flower. This is a dark form.
Phalaenopsis tetraspsis		Grown in greenhouse. The red patches appear in different places in different flowers, in some hardly at all. More flowers.
Sarchochilus hartmannii		Grows outside (coastal), in filtered sun. These bloom better if they are kept on the dry side in winter.
Sedirea japonica		Grows outside (coastal) in a basket or mounted. It has a lemon-y fragrance. Japanese breeding has also produce the miniature variety Sedirea japonica v. minmaru, which has nearly the same size flowers as the normal form, but on a tiny plant, which can be grown in a manner that is similar to the traditional Neofinetia falcata culture.
Trichopilia marginata		Grown in greenhouse
Vanda coerulescens		This cold-tolerant little Vanda grows outside (coastal) easily. It can handle temperatures down to freezing if kept dry. Closeup of flower.