Cranichis muscosa Sw. 1788, one of the first orchids blooming in the Rio Abajo forest, Puerto Rico, after hurricane Maria.

I found this orchid in a roadside.  The leaves had its sides sunburned and the plant was small for the species.  It escaped being buried in a mass of fallen bamboo stems.  It is growing on the side of a road cut, a drier place than where I am used to find them.  When I saw it I was happy that some plants survived.  The loss of the canopy due to the hurricane winds was a disaster for the plants used to grow on the shade of the forest understory, many burned to a crisp and died.  The reduced humidity in the weeks after the hurricane also was an issue.  Many plants were smothered by the massive leaf fall and the numerous large branches that were thrown violently to the forest floor.

I found some tiny orchid seedlings, maybe of Leochilus puertoricensis, "in situ" in a single thin branch

Today I took some photos of the flowers of Leochilus puertoricensis and uploaded them to the Internet.  I was asked to take photos of the whole plant.  I went to see the plants and moved around the tree to try to get a better angle for the photos.  Then I noticed tiny green slivers on one of the branches.  They turned out to be orchid seedling.  I have never seen so many orchid seedling or such tiny ones.  Most were only green blades.  A single one had a short root.  My suspicion is that they are seedling of Leochilus, since they are in the same tree with plants of this species.  However I have never seen so many Leochilus plants clumped together, usually they occur as solitary plants.  I suspect the reason there are so many of them there is that it is the dry season and slugs and snails, which love to snack on these things are not very active due to the low humidity.  I will watch these tiny plants to see how many of them survive and how long they take to reach maturity and bloom.

Vanilla planifolia Jacks. ex Andrews 1808, "in situ", in the Rio Abajo forest, Puerto Rico

I found this orchid some years ago during a hike in the Rio Abajo forest.   The orchid was growing over several living trees, on stumps and on some places crawling over the fallen branches and the leaf litter.   In this small spot of the forest the stems of this orchid were all over the place.  However my enthusiasm over finding this plant was tempered by the fact that I could not find any evidence that the stems that were under eye height, and therefore accessible to being photographed, had ever bloomed.  Some of the stems were fifty or more feet up in the trees and I surmised that it was there, where the plant was exposed to the greatest sunlight, that the flowers were produced.

I visited the plants every year on what I suspected was its blooming season, but I could not locate any evidence that it had bloomed.   Then about two weeks ago, I noticed that some of the stems were producing inflorescences, luckily a few were low enough that I could take photos of the flowers.

 

The flowers last a single day, I have noticed that the inflorescences have one flower open at a time.  The inflorescences attract ants, you can see them around the bases of the flower buds.   The inflorescences are not uniformly distributed through the stems.  Almost all of the inflorescences I found were on the stems that were getting the most sun.  None of the stems that were growing on the deep shade had flowers and neither did the undersized stems that were crawling on the ground.   

                                                                                                   

This orchid is used to produce commercial vanilla, it is native of Mexico.    This orchid seems to be doing quite well on its own.  I have only found a single seedling, it growing at the base of a huge teak tree.  Unfortunately, the small plant didn’t survive when snails attacked it.    All the other plants I have seen have been either large adults or pieces that have fallen from the canopy and are starting to produce roots and climbing growths.

Dendrobium bifalce Lindl. 1843, at the 2015 Puerto Rico orchid society show

Phalaenopsis I-Hsin Adzuki Bean 'KHM 2265'

I saw this Phalaenopsis hybrid in a card table in the 2015 Puerto Rico orchid society show at el Jardin Botanico de Rio Piedras.  A beautiful and impressive plant.

Cyclopogon elatus (Sw.) Schltr. 1919, a native orchid in a shaded ravine in the Rio Abajo forest

Today I visited a shaded ravine deep inside the Rio Abajo forest, near the center of the island of Puerto Rico.  This plant was growing near a tiny creek that flowed between the haystack hills.  I almost missed seeing it due to its small stature and dull colored flowers.  But because it was early morning, sun rays were coming at an angle and one of them hit the inflorescence and made it stand out from the rest of the vegetation.  The area has very tall trees which means the forest floor is quite gloomy.  There is a population of manaca palms, Calyptronoma rivalis in the place.  The palms are still young, they were planted there by the Puerto Rico Department of Natural Resources.  The place had many interesting plants but I was there only briefly and barely had time to see a small patch of the ravine.  The place is quite safe from visitors as it can only be reached after an strenuous walk through rugged terrain.

Bulbophyllum flabellum-veneris (J.König) Aver. 2003,

This orchid grows without problem in the hot coastal regions of Puerto Rico.  For me this plant has proven tolerant of neglect and less than ideal watering, but it does much better with regular watering and fertilizing.  This plant is owned by a friend.  His house is close to the seashore so humidity levels are not a problem.  His plant has grown large with many pseudobulbs.  A plant that is doing well can produce inflorescences sporadically for several months.  My own plant, which I brought under the name Bulbophyllum lepidum, produces inflorescences for three months between November and January.

Unfortunately, my own plant is of lesser quality than the one on these photos.  However it is an easy, undemanding grower and I have given away many pieces to friends and beginners.  This species is sometimes confused with hybrids, such as Bulb, Daisy Chain (Bulbophyllum makoyanum x Bulb. amesianum).

Cranichis muscosa Sw. 1788, in the Rio Abajo forest in Puerto Rico

I found this plant in the roadside during one of my hikes in the Rio Abajo forest, Puerto Rico.  This plant can be found in the roadsides in certain parts of the Yunque forest, in the east of the island, where I had photographed it previously but this is the first time I have seen it in the Rio Abajo forest.   The plant itself is inconspicuous out of the blooming season.

Because the flowers are oriented with the lip uppermost the green marking of the lip are not easily noticeable.  I found only three plants near a patch of Ponthieva racemosa.   The plants were growing in a small stretch of roadside that for some reason has not been overrun by exotic invasive plants.  

Epidendrum ackermanii Hágsater 2004, in Maricao, the inflorescence of a plant growing under the shade of a Clusia rosea

Most flowers of this species are a pale lilac color, this inflorescence had unusually deep colored flowers.  I saw this plant in the Maricao forest in an area where a rockslide had obliterated all plants in its path.  This orchid is growing under the shade of a Clusia rosea tree.

This is the most common color of these orchids.

Erythrodes sp. possibly hirtella, growing in the Maricao forest.

This is a relatively common, but fairly inconspicuous species.  The tiny tubular flowers are what horticulturists dismiss as "unshowy".  It is the only species of native orchid that has germinated in my orchid pots.  The plants of this species in my orchid pots are larger, with lustruous green leaves and produce many more flowers than the same species growing in the wild.  I attribute this to the abundance of nutrients in my orchid pots due to regular fertilizing. 

Epidendrum anceps Jacq. 1763, The flowers of 2015 in comparison with those I found in the same place in 2011

January 2015

January 2015

February 2011

February 2011

A few years ago I found a clump of stems of Epidendrum anceps growing in the crest of a hill in the Maricao forest. Since then, I visit these plants once a year to check how they are doing and to photograph the flowers.  In 2011 the clump had an inflorescence with green flowers.  In 2015, only one of the inflorescences had not suffered damage.  It was not clear what had damaged the inflorescences before they had finished their growth.  The only one with flowers had a distinct purple color in the edge of the lip.  Apparently, rather than all the stems being a single plant, the clump is composed of two plants growing very close together.  Hopefully next year I will be able to photograph both colors of flowers side by side.

A rare sight, a Tetramica specimen plant

I saw this Tetramica specimen plant in 2007 at a meeting of the Mayaguez orchid society.  At that time I didn't fully appreciate this achievement.  This Tetramica plants don't look lie the local Tetramica species in their body form, the local species has leaves that are terete.  However the flowers do look like those of Tetramica elegans, a species native of PR.  I have never again seen a specimen plant of this species.  In my experience Tetramica plants are intolerant of media that is too water retentive.  The also are vulnerable to scales, which means that you have to check your plants periodically for these pests.

Dendrobium polyanthum Wall. ex Lindl. 1830 a rewarding species to grow

In 2007 it produced five flowers

By 2011 it had improved a little

The first time I saw the flowers of this orchid I was absolutely entranced by their beauty.  The plant I took home with me had a single adult cane and the first time it bloomed it produced only five flowers.  But the beauty of the flowers was such that even those few were well worth the effort.  In time, as you can see, it eventually produced a few more flowers.  You can read more about my experience with this species here:

 http://ricardogupi.blogspot.com/2010/10/dendrobium-primulinum-also-known-now-as.html

Bulbophyllum tingabarinum Garay, Hammer, Siegrist 1994, blooming in 2014

After two years in my garden I can attest that Bulbophyllum tingabarinum is easy to grow and flower at middles altitudes in the mountainous interior of Puerto Rico.  It does demand careful fertilization when it is producing new growths or the pseudobulbs will be smaller than their full potential.  For me it blooms like clockwork every August.  In 2014 it has produced two inflorescences.  The high winds and the copious rains that tropical storm Bertha brought to the island the last two days didn't affect the flowering process.

Dendrophylax porrectus a leafless orchid growing on a camasey tree in the Rio Abajo forest

This orchid is native of Puerto Rico.  This orchid has no leaves just roots joined by a very short stem.  It produces tiny inconspicuous green flowers.  It can often be found growing on the branches of wild guava and camasey trees.

Comparettia falcata Poepp. & Endl. 1835, "in situ" in the central mountains of Puerto Rico

This species is native of Puerto Rico.  I have found it in areas of very high environmental humidity.  I have seen it growing mainly in thin branches and twigs, but I have also seen plant in trunks and more substantial branches.  I have seen it most often in the edges of the forest, where a creek or a trait opens up the canopy.  However finding it in areas of intact canopy is not easy so imy experience may be just an artifact of visual sampling and simply reflects the places where it can be viewed more readily.  This plant is not often seen in captivity in Puerto Rico mainly due to the difficulties replicating its environmental needs outside its native habitat.  In t experience, in particularly favorable habitats, it can be locally common in small areas.

Anolis evermanni Stejneger 1904, in the forest of Rio Abajo

Today I was cleaning the patio and decided to remove an accumulation of sticks and leaves that had developed under a clump of palm stems.  When I did this, I broke several tunnels that termites had made into the leaf litter mass.  As a result worker termites were exposed, as well as a few warriors.  This is not an unusual event so I continued cleaning.  Then I noticed that an Anolis evermanni was eating the worker termites.  Anolis evermanni are normally an even green color.  This one had an overlay of darer green bands.  I attribute this to the excitement caused by the presence of an abundance of prey.  Anolis evermanni has shown a breathtaking amount of behavioral flexibility in the laboratory.  From what I saw while taking the photos, this particular lizard regarded me as an annoyance, but also as essentially harmless.  That's why I could get so close to it.  These lizard see me daily as I do garden chores or just walk around.  This might explain the boldness of this one, or maybe it was very, very hungry.  Anolis only eat the workers, the warriors have dark pointy heads full of a distasteful toxic glue that the lizards seem to loathe.

A baby puertorican boa startles and delights

This baby Puertorican boa surprised, startled and delighted the personnel of the Puertorican Parrot project by spending the day wrapped around the rails of one of the paths in the aviary.  It was quite festy and would try to bite if someone got too close.  It provided me with a rare occasion to use my 100mm macro lens on an animal.  After I took a number of photos gently but firmly, I coaxed the snake to leave the rail and to move to the vegetation.  The little snake eventually slithered down the rail and moved away.  I did this at night fall so that it would not fall prey to daytime predators.