Friday, May 6, 2016

Tetramicra elegans [Hamilton] Cogn. 1910, here I show the flowers of a plant from cultivation, origin unknown and two flowers from plants "in situ" in the Sierra Bermeja, Puerto Rico

Cultivated plant
Cultivated plant
Cultivated plant
"in situ"
"in situ"
Tetramica elegans is an orchid that is native of Puerto Rico and can be found in dry forests in the southwest of the island.  Because it has showy flowers it also cultivated by orchidists.  The photos of the plant in cultivation are from a specimen plant that produced large, many flowered, even branched inflorescences, something I have yet to see in the wild where most of the plants I have found are small and have few flowered inflorescences none of which has been branched.  The flowers of the cultivated plant are fuller, larger and more numerous than those of the wild plants.  I cannot say that this is due to some genetic condition or caused by optimal care for the cultivated plant.  The lip of the cultivated plant seems to have a pure white central stripe, but it does have a faint yellow spot in the middle.  Sadly, the friend that cultivated this plant died some years ago I can't ask him where he got the plant.  The plants from the wild are part of a large population on the Sierra Bermeja hills in Cabo Rojo.

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