Thursday, August 4, 2011

Epidendrum embreei or maybe sphatatum, from Ecuador


This Epidendrum was seen growing in the Quito Botanical Garden, Quito, Ecuador.


There were a few plants of this deligthful orchid planted in the grounds and greenhouses of the Quito Botanical Gardens.  All the plants were growing vigorously and blooming beautifully.   Unfortunately I didn't get to see this plant growing in the wild, all the plants I saw were in cultivation.  I have not seen this plant in Puerto Rico in cultivation and I suspect it would do very poorly in my tropical country.  The biggest plants I saw were growing under the shade of some large trees.  The main reason I think this plant would not grow well in Puerto Rico is due to the fact that I saw it growing in areas with a 30 degree Farenheit difference between day and night.  In the Quito area during my visit, temperatures could go down to the middle forties in the night and climb to the middle seventies in the day, a temperature differencial impossible to get in the lowland tropics without artificial cooling.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Wau, a beautiful Epidendrum :) Like fireworks!