Show and Tell

From Kurt Shanebeck:

Outdoors coastal, north of Los Angeles:

Dendrobium victoria-reginae

A Philippine species that blooms frequently. Growing potted in bark with moderate light and kept evenly moist.

Laelia anceps

Growing mounted with bright light.

Oncidium iricolor

A Mexican species with long branching inflorescence. Growing mounted with moderate light.

Paphiopedilum gratrixianum

From Southeast Asia. Has been a reliable bloomer in the late fall or early winter. Growing potted in bark with moderate light.

Restrepia brachypus

From higher elevations in South America (1100-3200m). Growing mounted on tree fern with moderate light.

Trichopilia fragrans

Growing potted in bark. Shady and moist.

From Scott McGregor:

All orchids grown outdoors, coastal southern California

Dendrochilum saccolabium

A reliable bloomer and vigorous outdoor grower.

Coelogyne mooreana

A pretty and fragrant species that grows up to about 18” tall, but stays compact.  Got a bit of storm damage to the flowers this year.

From Roberta Fox:

Outside in the Back Yard:

I think that this is the largest variety of Mexican Laelias (they are still Laelias) that I have ever had blooming within the same month, most simultaneously and still in bloom at the end of December.

We have: L. anceps, L. superbiens, L. albida, L. furfuracea, L. gouldiana, L. autumnalis and L. aurea.

Laelia anceps

One can't have too many L. anceps, with such a variety of color forms. Different individual plants bloom at different times, I expect to have some for at least another month. This is the ultimate bullet-proof orchid, tolerating temperatures from about 29 deg F to 110 deg F. and also rather drought-tolerant. I have found that they do best mounted or in baskets with little or no medium.

Laelia superbiens

L. superbiens has long inflorescences. and tends to also have long wild roots. This one used to be Schomburgkia, characterized by "wavy" flowers. But there are two distinct groups - these with fairly slim, solid pseudobulbs were grouped with Laelias, the ones with thick, hollow psedudobulbs became Myrmecophila.

Laelia albida

Laelia furfuracea f. alba

Laelia gouldiana

L. gouldiana petals have a pearlescent luster in the sunlight.

Laelia autumnalis

This one always seems to wait for winter, in spite of its name.

Eulophia macra

Native to Madagascar from sea level to 1500 m. Before the flowers open, the spike looks barely alive, since the sepals are tan. Even once open, from a distance the blooming inflorescence is unremarkable. But look closely, these long-lasting little flowers are very beautiful. The spike is about 4 ft. tall.

Isochilus sp.

Andy Phllips has searched for years to find an ID for this "flower machine". There is a lot of confusion within the genus, so it's likely to take a detailed taxonomic examination to maybe come up with a positive ID. Until then, it is "Isochilus sp."

Dendrochilum cobbianum

Native to the Philippines. Color is variable in the species, from yellow to white. The inflorescences with their tiny flowers look almost like strings of lace.

Dendrobium victoriae-reginae

Native to the Philippines, elevation 1300-2650 m. It can bloom repeadedly from bare canes, and bloom 2-3 times a year. This species does tend to want good water - mine is growing much better since I started using RO water.

Epidendrum nocturnum

This blooms 2-3 times a year. The species has an enormous range, from southern Florida through Mexico and Central America and south to Brazil and Peru. Elevation range is from around 100 m to 2000 m. I have seen it in Ecuador around 1200 m, and along the Rio Negro in Brazil at near sea level.

Maxillaria elatior

Native to southern Mexico and much of Central America. It blooms severa times a year, producing flowers sequentially. Since the flowers have heavy substance and are long-lasting, it can be in bloom 6 weeks or more each time it blooms.

Pseudolaelia freyi

Found in Espirito Santo state in Brazil, at elevations from 1100 to 1400 m. It grows on Vellozia bushes - and is happily climbing up this hapu'u plaque.

Masdevallia colossus

Flower is about 3 inches, with very heavy substance. Nice flower-to-plant ratio. Native to Peru and Ecuador.

Pleurothallis dilemma

Produces multiple flowers sequentially from a leaf. The leaves remind me a bit of green beans. Native to Ecuador.

Maxillaria ubatubana

Super-floriferous! Native to southeastern Brazil (named for the city of Ubatuba).

Trisetella hoeijeri

Like little birds. Flowers are relatively large for the genus. Two of the flowers opened together, and the third (bottom right) opened as the other two were fading. The third one has a distinctly darker dorsal sepal. It's possible that there are actually two plants in this little (1.5 inch) clump. These need to be cool and damp.

Restrepia condorensis

This plant is almost never NOT in bloom, but this was a particularly nice flush bloom.

Brachypeza semiteretifolia (Pteroceras semiteretifolium)

Native to Vietnam, elevation 1000-1500 m. A relatively new species, described in 1992.

Cymbidium dayanum

In the greenhouse...

Bulbophyllum lasiochilum

from South-central China, Myanmar, and Thailand at elevation 1200-1500 m. i have been growing it in the greenhouse, where it is doing very well. But, given its elevation range, I strongly suspect that it will do fine outside. As soon as the nights warm up a bit so that it can acclimate, it's moving outside.

Liparis parviflora

Native to a wide range of Pacific islands and adjoining mainland, including Philippines, Borneo, Malaya, and Thailand, at a range of elevations from sea level to 2000 m. I have been growing in the greenhouse where it does very well, but the elevation range indicates that it could grow outside. The mass of tiny flowers produces inflorescences that look like lace.

Laelia aurea

Native to northwest Mexico, endemic to the Pacific-facing foothills. It grows at lower elevations, 100-300 m. It is closely related to L. rubescens, but comes from a much warmer area.

Zelenkoa onusta (Oncidium onustum)

Blooms several times a year. It is native to Ecuador and Peru, usually at lower elevations though it has been found up to 1200 m. It comes from a seasonally dry area, but mine gets watered throughout the year. Being mounted on a bare cork slab (no moss) it dries rapidly after watering, and that seems to be sufficient.

Zootrophion alvaroi

Native to Colombia and Ecuador. The flowers remind me of little balloons, or maybe lanterns. This is as open as they get, so the polinator must be VERY little. This is the biggest cluster of flowers that I have had from this plant, usually it is 1, 2 or 3 flowers on an inflorescence.

Maxillaria richii

A rather unusual color combination - the sepals are a soft dusty rose that contrasts with the intense yellow lip. Native to Ecuador, elevation 100-1000 m. It blooms 2 or 3 time a year and as the plant gets bigger, the blooms are becoming more profuse.