Rhyncolaelia
digbyana
‘Mrs. Chase’ x sib
Rhyncolaelia digbyana ‘Mrs. Chase’ is better know as Brassavola digbyana which is still being used to register hybrids, is a primary cross between Mrs. Chase x sib.
The species is found in Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras often under severe bright light and prolonged dryness. It is a common species in the state of Quintana Roo where Cancun is located. When you come across them growing in the wild, they cover the ground like grass, if the area has not been severely burned. There they are considered a “weed”. Plants look like a typical cattleya except for the powdery, silver, fine scaling which covers the pseudobulbs and leaves giving them a whitish-grayish-silvery cast.
It is a slow growing and thus a challenge to get it large enough to bloom. It produces one large, waxy, 4 – 5 inch showy flower that has a strong lemony fragrance at night indicating that a moth is its pollinator. Color is usually a glassine green with a deeply fimbriated (fringed) lip. It passes its fringed lip and fragrance on to its progeny but the lip has never been reproduced to the same extent in the offspring.
It usually blooms in the summer preferring 45 – 95 temperatures.
In the summer put in bright shade, meaning full sun in the morning until noon.
It does not appreciate prolonged wetness so many are mounted or grown in baskets to allow roots to dry quickly.
Fertilize frequently.
Owner: Steve Fischer Division I
Laelia
anceps var veitchiana
Laelia anceps var veitchiana is found in Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras.
The word “anseps” means two edged and is known by its common name, “The Bull”.
In Mexico it can be found growing in the mountains on the Gulf side in warm, oak forests or tropical deciduous trees at 3959- 5200 feet and on the Pacific side of the mountains, growing in oak trees, and humid forests from 5200-5900 feet. Occasionally they can be found on rocks. Their habitant is varied and they will grow in higher or lower elevations as well as cooler or higher climates and in shade or sun.
This variation indicates an adaptability that explains why this orchid is easy to cultivate.
The orchid usually produces 16- 24 slender erect stems to gracefully swaying ones emerging from the top of the pseudobulbs. Each stem produces 2-5 large, showy 2.5 – 4 inch flowers that can last for several weeks if kept cool and dry.
You will notice a fragrance on sunny days.
Sepals are a pale, rose purple. There is a darker purple border on the outside edges of the lobe.
Owner: Steve Fischer Division I I
Tolumnia
Tolumnia was segregated from the genus Oncidium in 1986 being known as Equitants at the time.. The plants are small, usually epiphytic with small or absent pseudobulbs completely covered by leaves and overlapping at the base to resemble a fan and to conserve water.
They are named for Tolumnius, a character in Virgil’s Aeneas.
Native to the Caribbean with one species extending into Florida, they grow on small branches needing high humidity and excellent drainage. Mounting is recommended or potting in a very quick, draining media. It is easy to over water them unless mounted.
Leaves and roots should not be wet at night or the roots will rot and die. Daily misting is good as they are used to daily showers and trade winds to dry the roots.
They are adaptable for light and like to be near Cattleyas and Phalaenopsis.
Morning sun is good but they don’t like the afternoon sun. Therefore red leaves means burning. Lower light will produce fewer blooms.
Circulation is very important and helps to dry out the plant and allows the roots to extract moisture from the the lobe. The yellow keel has three ridges located in the center beneath the column. Its throat is marked with branching rays of red-purple.
In cultivation it usually blooms December – February.
It likes bright conditions, however, light needs to be filtered or diffused to reduce sunburn. Strong air movement is essential. High light will mature your bulb before its dry, rest period in the winter. A reddish tinge on its leaves is a good culture indicator that the light is appropriate. This Tolumnia will also do well outdoors to 32 degrees.air.
They can produce blooms 2-3 times a year on delicate spikes.
The ideal according to Pete Peters of Whimsey Orchids in Homestead, FL., in his talk at the World Orchid Conference, is to have stems as long as possible (12-18″). He also suggests while misting to only mist the area surrounding the plant, not the plant itself. After flowering, do not cut back the inflorescence as they can put out side spikes and re-bloom.
Fertilize twice a month.
Temperatures range from high 60’s at night to high 80’s in the day.
Sharon bought this plant from Mary’s Orchids in West Palm Beach around 2004-05. It has bloomed every year, just a few blooms its first couple of years to 7 spikes last year. This year it produced 9 with 15 flowers. It is growing in a south facing window. According to Sharon, “Peters informally titled his talk “How Not To Kill Tolumnias.” I can see how this could be difficult, but for me this baby has been a breeze!”
Owner: Sharon Hendrix Division I I
Angraecum
sesquipedale
The species, Angraecum sesquipedale , or “Comet Orchid”, was found on the island of Madagascar by Charles Darwin and was a puzzlement, to how its pollination mechanism worked since its nectar bearing spurs can be more than 12 inches long.
Darwin deduced that an insect with a proboscis of the same length of the spur would be able to reach the nectar at its tip and it lived somewhere within the forests of Madagascar. His hypothesis was met with skepticism and those suggested there was no insect pollinator, thus the species might not reproduce sexually.
Forty years later, and after Darwin died, he was proven correct, when a night flying hawk moth with the correct length proboscis was discovered. It is the most striking orchid found on the island having been isolated from mainland Africa for 1,000’s of years and evolving into an amazing plant.
This species is the best known of the large angraecums and produces one of the most majestic of all orchid flowers. In the wild, you will find them growing on trees or rocks where there is good air flow and shaded.
Its foliage resembles that of the vandas more closely than other monopodials, the phalaenopsis. However, the vandas are closer in evolutionary terms to the phalaenopsis and these two will hybridize, along with many others that make up this alliance but will look totally different. At present, we are denied a union between the angraecums and phalaenopsis, and can only speculate what the results might be. There have been a few crosses of the former with vandas but with little results.
Its thick, straplike leaves can grow to over 15 inches tall, 2 ” inches wide and the unbranched stems may grow to over 40 inches with the spur reaching 12-14 inches.
The inflorescences have about 4 long lasting, fragrant, white, waxy flowers, each 6-9 inches across usually flowering from June through November in the wild.
It is an evergreen that is easy to flower and grow as long as it receives good light. If the light is inadequate, flowering will be inhibited and it will produce darker, lusher foliage instead.
It likes warm houses, moist conditions, protection from full sun and frequent misting. Temperatures range in the intermediate with 55 degrees the minimum in the winter.
Water all year long and feed less in the winter, as it takes longer for the plant to dry out.
Owner: Steve Fischer Division I I
Brassoanthe
Maikai
‘Mayumi’
HCC/AOS
Brassoanthe Maikai ‘Mayumi” HCC/AOS, a primary cross, was once know as a Brassocattleya listing Cattleya bowrringiana as one of its parents.
That latter orchid has been reclassified as a Guarianthe having been separated from Cattleya based on phylogenetic studies with DNA sequence data, hence the new name. The other parent is Brassavola nodosa. Hirose Nursery of Hawaii first registered it in 1944.
The orchid is a compact plant meaning it usually will not grow over 12 inches in height with the flowers towering over the leaves. It produces multiple leads with each lead producing multiple flowers. The 3 in flowers are an overall lilac that fades to a pale lilac as the flower matures. It has a green overtone, sepals and petals that are spotted with a darker lilac, and a spotted lavender lip with lilac spots. One can see the spotting showing through to the back of the petals and sepals. Spotting is particularly noticeable on the throat where it is almost solid. The dark spots on the throat of a Brassavola nodosa are not always obvious but when used as a parent they always dominate.
This plant had over 40 flowers and buds.
Ron has had this orchid for 9 years starting out with a 2.5 – 3 inch pot. It doesn’t like to be divided and will “pout” unless it roots are crowded according to Ron.
They like bright, indirect light, 68 – 84 degrees at night, 50% humidity and once mature, like to dry out between watering.
Fertilize weekly. It is grown along cattleyas in shade/greenhouse facing the south.
Owner: Ron Cosner Division II
Mediocalcar
decoratam
Mediocalcar decoratam, one of 15 species in this genus, is a miniature, mat-forming cool to cold growing epiphytic species growing in the high altitude (2300 – 800 ft) rain forest mountains of Papua New Guinea, as well as some islands east and west of the main island.
It has cylindrical pseudobulbs with three to four leaves per bulb resembling the blades of a helicopter.
They require humid conditions year round as their roots are thin and quite wiry, almost stilt-like with no velum.
It is an evergreen with leathery texture leaves that are succulent-like and will show a slight shriveling if the watering is not consistent. The 1inch orange and yellow flowers look like candy corn before they burst open to show their yellow edges.
A well-cultivated plant will produce a mass of blooms all over the plant like driblets of color in a dark sea of green.
Growth ceases in the summer, resuming in early autumn with flowering occurring in late fall to early December. Some of these have been known to bloom twice in one year, lasting up to six weeks.
They prefer to be mounted but can be grown in shallow clay pots.
Lynn grows this in an Edwardian case.
Owner: Lynn Hernandez Division II
Phalaenopsis
(unnamed)
Carol got this Phalaenopsis at least 5 year ago at the NMOG Orchid show.
It bloomed a couple of times, but the last time (until now) was 2004.
It has been growing in her studio, which has windows on three sides, lots of light but not direct sunlight.
She runs a fan and humidifier during the day. Daytime temperatures are between 72 and 80, night time low 60′s.
It gets watered at least once a week, more if it seems dry.
“Frankly, this bloom was a complete surprise!
Unfortunately, its tag got lost.”
Owner: Carol Hobart Division III
… photos by Kathy Mancini
… information by Barbara Smith
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