Odontoglossum halli Lindley 1837, in Ecuador

I saw this plant in the orchid house of the Botanical Garden of Quito, Ecuador.  It is found in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.  This species is part of the Epidendroides group inside the group of orchids related to Oncidium.¹   There were plants of this species inside and outside the orchid house.  The plant growing outside in the trunk of a tree, growing under shade had more flowers.  The plant growing inside the orchid house was sitting in the ground and exposed to a much higher level of light.    The flowers of the two plants I photographed were subtly different, the one outside had lips that were not flat, the one in the orchid house had a flat lip, the marking and the coloring of the flowers were also slightly different.

  

¹Zelenko H. et al. 2002.  Orchids, The pictorial encyclopedia of Oncidium

Encyclia brassavolae (Reichenbach f.) Lindley ex Stein 1892

I saw this plant in the orchid house of the Botanical Garden of Quito, Ecuador.   Although this orchid was not identified with a tag, the flowers are unmistakable.   It was growing on a raised bed in the middle of the green house.  It had a single flower.    The plant was in excellent condition.   It is clear it thrives in a diurnal range of 45F during the night and 77F during the day.

This plant is found in Central America and Mexico at altitudes between 1200 and 2500 meters in wet pine oak evergreen forest, it is reported to sometimes grow on rocks.¹  This plant was placed by Withner in the genus Panarica.  In the Cattleyas and their relatives: The debatable Epidendrums, it is named Panarica brassavolae (Reichenbach f.) Withner & Harding. 

 

¹Withner, C. L., Harding, P. A. 2004. Cattleyas and their relatives:  The debatable Epidendrums

Maxillaria sanderiana Reichenbach f. ex Sander 1888, at the Botanical Garden in Quito, Ecuador

I saw this plant in the orchid house of the Botanical Garden of Quito, Ecuador.   Although this orchid was not identified with a tag, the flowers resemble the flowers of Maxillaria sanderiana that are in my books.  Max. sanderiana is native of Ecuador and Peru, where it is epiphytic or lithophytic on stony slopes.¹   The flowers of this species are variable in the extent of purple around the base of the floral segments, and the size of the lip.²  This orchid was in a raised bed composed of coarse gravel, if there was a pot buried in the gravel it was impossible to say.

¹La Croix, I. F.  2008. The new encyclopedia of orchids: 1500 species in cultivation

²Zelenko, H., Bermudez, P. 2009.  Orchid species of Peru

Xylobium leontoglossum a rarely seen orchid growing in the Quito Botanical Gardens

One of the pleasures of traveling is finding things that are that surprise and delight with their mystery.  I had one of these experiences with this orchid.  This plant is the first Xylobium that I had ever seen.  When I saw this plant I was stumped as to what genera it could belong to, something that doesn’t often happens to me.  After checking a few books I concluded that it was probably a Xylobium.  I posted a photo in the Orchid Source Forum and in a short time one of the members had identified it as Xylobium leonthoglossum.  This plant was growing as a terrestrial on a bed on the orchid house of the Quito Botanical Gardens, Ecuador.  The flowers are relatively small, I didn’t measure them exactly, but because they are presented in a group, they are quite eye catching with their soft pink color.  These plants are sometimes kept by specialist growers but they are rare in cultivation.  In fact I have never seen one exhibited in Puerto Rico.  

Ada pozoi in the Quito Botanical Gardens

This orchid was photographed on the Quito Botanical Gardens, Ecuador.  So far as I know this genus is not cultivated in Puerto Rico.  The reason is probably the temperature requirements of the plants which need night temperatures in the middle forties to do well.  These temperatures are only seen in Puerto Rico for brief periods, at the highest elevations in the very “depths” of our winter.  The only place I saw this plant in Ecuador was in the Botanical Gardens.

A large flowered red Maxillaria species from the Quito Botanical Gardens, somewhat reminicent of nigrescens

I found this orchid growing among the rocks in the display area of the Quito Botanical Gardens, Ecuador.  The plant was growing at ground level and I would have missed it entirely if I had not looked between the boulders.  It is a relatively small plant and it was overshadowed by the much larger plants that covered most of the display area.  The flowers are brightly colored and reminiscent of Maxillaria nigrescens, although the flower in this photo is not exactly alike the plant in the book “Orchid Species of Peru”.   But in orchids it is not advisable to make a definite identification of a plant just because of the color of its flowers.  

A white Maxillaria especies from the Quito Botanical Gardens

This large flowered Maxillaria has white flowers with a yellow lip.   The plant is growing at the side of the trail that is inside the orchid house.   It is a huge specimen several feet wide.  The flowers are quite showy but since the plant is planted at ground level you have to get on hands and knees to really appreciate their beauty.  Once you are level with the plant it becomes apparent that there are a number of flowers that are hidden among the leaves of the plant.  This orchid is among the most beautiful Maxillaria I have seen but the sheer size of the plant doesn’t recommend it much to greenhouse or windowsill growers.  Most of the flowers were pure white but there was a single one that had a red tint on the sepals.  It looked pretty much identical to the white ones except for the touch of color.   

Cyrtochilum murinum growing in a tree in the Quito Botanical Garden, Ecuador

A newly opened flower to the right and a mature one to the left

I saw this orchid in the botanical garden of the city of Quito, Ecuador.  This orchid was growing as an epiphyte on a large tree.  The plant was growing at a height of about ten feet in the trunk of the tree.  The inflorescence was five or six feet long and reached down just enough to allow me to photograph the flowers near the tip.  In the Quito area temperatures vary between 45 F at night to 75 during the day.  There are no seasons and this temperature regime stays the same year round.  In the photo, in the right side, you can see a flower that has just opened.  This flower shows very well the color and shape of the floral parts.  In the mature flower the floral segments are strongly reflexed toward the back as can be seen in the flower on the left side of the photo.

Epidendrum lacustre, seen in the Quito Botanical Gardens

I saw this orchid at the Quito Botanical Gardens, in Quito, the capital of Ecuador.  This plant can be found in the wild in mountain areas from Costa Rica in the north to Peru in the south.  The plant, when it is not blooming has a certain similarity to a bifoliate Cattleya.  This orchid was planted in the ground in several places in the Botanical Gardens.  Some were growing in places where they got full sun, a few plants showed a bit of sunburn.  I saw plants of this orchid in several stages of blooming, some with developing inflorescences and others with old damaged flowers.  All plants were growing vigorously but the ones in the most sunny places had yellowed leaves.

Epidendrum capricornu, the "goat horned" Epidendrum

I saw this plant at the outdoor gardens of the Quito Botanical Gardens in Quito, Ecuador.  I also saw this plant in the town of Mindo also in Ecuador.  This plant is a cool grower that liven in the Andes mountains.  It is said it can be in bloom at any time of the year.  I saw several plant in the botanical garden grounds but only two were in bloom and of these one has only a few flowers.  The flower display is handsome enough but tends to suffer in comparison when grown with such large and prolific bloomers as Epidendrum pophyreum and Epidendrum atacazoicum.   The plants were growing outdoors in the ground along with several kinds of Epidendrum sp. native of Ecuador.  Local temperatures fluctuate between 75F during the day to 45F at night. 

Epidendrum atacazoicum, an orchid native of Ecuador

This Epidendrum native of Ecuador produces large many flowered piramidal inflorescences.  The inflorescences are quite showy both due to their sheer size and to the lovely presentation.  This is a large plant, in the plant shot it might look small but this is due to the fact that behind it are the 15 feet tall canes of a large Sobralia orchid.  The specific name of the plant is because there is a volcano en Ecuador named Atacazo.  This plant grows in cool, wet montane forest.  I have not seen photos of this plant being cultivated out of its native range except for this plant which I saw at the Quito Botanical Gardens, in Ecuador.

Odontoglossum crispum hybrid, at the Quito Botanical Garden, Ecuador

I had the pleasure of seeing this beautiful orchid from Colombia at the Quito Botanical Gardens.  The orchid was exhibited on a rock platform.  The flowers are long lasting as the whole inflorescence was open when I visited for the first time and when I came back two weeks later they were still in perfect condition.  This plant is a cool grower that dies when exposed to continuous high temperatures.  In this location the plant were on an open greenhouse which had temperatures of close to 45F at night and 75F during the day.

Cyrtochilum serratum an orchid from Ecuador

I first saw this orchid in a greenhouse in Quito Botanical Gardens.  But later I saw it growing in cultivation near Centro del Mundo and in Mindo.  The plant seems to be a vigorous grower and all the plants I saw had inflorescences.  The fact that I saw no seedlings anywhere I went makes me think that the plants were taken from the wild and planted in the places where I saw them.  All the plants I saw were adults.  The inflorescences are very long. I saw one that was about nine feet long and had several short branches along its lenght.  The flowers seem to be produced continuously along the inflorescence, all the inflorescences I saw had only a few flowers on them, near the tip of the inflorescence.  I saw a plant tied to a bamboo pole about eight feet up from the ground, its inflorescence had been trained along the lenght of the bamboo pole so that people could enjoy the flowers at eye level.  This plant is a cool grower from the Andes where it grows at elevation that can surpass the 9,000 feet.  This means that it is wholly unsuited for cultivation at sea level in hot locales.  It comes from western Ecuador and Peru.

Scaphosepalum dalstroemii, Quito Botanical Garden

This small orchid is found in Ecuador near the border with Peru in the high cloud forest of los Andes.  Since it grows at around 9,000 feet high in the mountains in cool to cold wet forests growing these plants outside their natural range demands careful attention to their growing conditions.  A few hardcore orchid enthusiasts in the United States grow this beauties but they are generally unknown in the wider orchid growing circles.  In Puerto Rico I have never seen a plant of this genus under cultivation.  

Epidendrum porphyreum, in Quito Botanical Gardens, Ecuador

An inflorescence of Epidendrum porphyreum

Plants growing in the grounds of the Quito Botanical Gardens

An inflorescence close up

This orchid was seen at the Quito Botanical Gardens, Quito, Ecuador.  This plant was planted in the ground in several spots in the garden and inside the orchid house.  The plants are large and some were just shy of four feet tall when in full bloom.  It grows in Ecuador and Colombia under cool to cold conditions in wet mountain forests.  It thrives under a daily cycle of temperature that goes from the middle forties at night to the middle seventies during the day.  Plants in full bloom are very attractive and a group of them is spectacular.  However I suspect its large size and particular growing needs have prevented this plant from becoming popular among orchid growers outside Ecuador.  I would love to grow this plant but it is pretty doubtful it would survive the high summer temperatures and the ocassional dry spell.  I. wonder if anyone has made hybrids of this plant that might be more tolerant of higher temperatures and drier growing conditions, you can dream, can't you?