Aranthera Anne Black, a hybrid registered in1957

This plant is very easy to grow.  It is in the island cooler interior that I have seen the best and brightest colored flowers of this hybrid.

This is a Catasetum Jumbo hybrid, unfortunately I could not understand the second half the name in the tag.

This large and floriferous plant was shown in a local orchid show in September of 2004.  Unfortunately I have never seen it again to get the right name.

Maxillaria schunkeana M.A. Campacci & R.A. Kautsky 1993

I saw this plant at the 2016 Puerto Rico Orchid Society show in the Jardin Botanico de Rio Piedras.  The flowers of this orchid are a dark purple color which under some lighting situations makes them look black.   

A Pleurothallis hybrid, (Plths. phymatoidea x Plths. teaguei)

In Puerto Rico, few people cultivate Pleurothallis.  I suspect the main reason is that most of the flowers of this genus are small, drab and that the plants are a challenge to grow in the sweltering, relatively dry and windy coasts of the island.  This plant was impressively large as Pleurothallis go but only had one opened flower.  I photographed it at the 2016 Puerto Rico orchid society show in the Rio Piedras botanical garden.

Dendrobium Star Sapphire and Dendrobium nobile

Dendrobium Star Sapphire

Dendrobium nobile

Dendrobium Star Sapphire is a wonderful example of the hybridizer's art.  As you can see. all the characteristics that make Den. nobile a worthwhile species to keep, have been enhaced.  The flowers or the hybrid are larger, the color is deeper and the form of the flower and its presentation are much better.  Unfortunately, a few years ago, my only plant of Den, Star Sapphire departed for the great happy terracota pot in the sky.  This was very surprising as all the other Den, nobile hybrids I have have been very resilient and grow without any problems. 

Coelogyne parishii Hook. f. 1862, a specimen plant

In the Puerto Rico orchid society show in San Juan in 2010, this plant won best specimen plant and also was awarded a CCM/AOS of 86 points.  This award recognizes the superior culture of an orchid.  I gave it the clonal name "Juan A, Rivero".   Professor Juan A. Rivero, or the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez,  gave me a two pseudobulb piece of this orchid the first time I visited his garden, in 1984.  This plant has been thriving under my care since that time.  This orchid tendency to produce two leads in each new growth allows it to become a large specimen plant in a relatively short time.  At the moment it was awarded it had 254 flower.  In 2011 it also produced a large quantity of flowers but I had to cut the leaves since they were in a lamentable state, probably due to unusually sunny and dry conditions in my garden.

Ludisia discolor [Ker-Gawl.] A. Rich. 1825, a jewel orchid that is very easy to grow in Puerto Rico

Last year a friend gave me a cutting of this jewel orchid.  The initial piece spent a year growing comparatively slowly and producing offshoots.  During this year dry season the plant hardly grew.  But when the rainy season arrived this plant really went into overdrive.  It produced bigger stems with larger leaves than ever before.  It thrived in the oppressive humidity, constant rain and warm temperatures of the wet season.  Right now we are near the peak of the local rainy season and the plant is at its best.  Judging from its vigorous growth in the last few months it is possible that in less than a year it will outgrow its pot.

Bulbophyllum blumei [Lindley]J.J. Sm. 1906, love its elegant flowers

Coelogyne Burfordiense, cultural note, growing it on a wire column

My plant of Coelogyne Burfordiense (Coe. asperata x Coe. pandurata) gives me very little problems except for the fact that it has a very vexing trait.  It will escape, sometimes in less than a year, from most pots.  Planting it in a large pot is a problem due to the large quantity of media that has to be used and the almost sureity that the big mass of media will become anoxic and kill the roots.  So I decided to grow this plant attached to a column of wire, this would allow me to train the growth ups and keep the plant tidy, or as tidy as it could be.  I made a 36 inches tall wire column, I used the sturdiest, strongest wire I could find.  Then I attached the column to the side of a 12" pot.  I attached the column using wires threaded through holes in the pot.  I made sure that the column was very firmly attached to the pot, this is essential as I often move the pot by pulling the column.  I started growing this plant this way in October 2007.  My plan was to keep adding media as the plant climbed up the column.

By May 2010, the plant was producing impressive bloomings with several inflorescences opening at the same time.  Most of the growths were close to the column, but some has grown out toward the sides, those were cut out when they had two pseudobulbs or more, only those pseudobulbs that kept close to the column were allowed to remain.  However it is important to keep a close watch when the plant is producing new growths so that they don't become tangled in the wire or try to grow into the column. 

This is the plant as it is now December 2013.  It has a considerable weight and had to be moved to a location where it gets full sun for part of the day because it had so many leaves it was self shading.  The growths have reached the top of the column.  The plant stands about four feet and a half tall at the tip of its top leaves.  Last year it produced nine inflorescences during a several months blooming season.  Next year I will probably have to cut the top growths which by then may be jutting out into space.  But I expect that by then I will have another pot and column ready for them, and who knows, I might even try to make an even larger one.

As you can see the plant can send inflorescences every which way, not ony toward the side that gets the strongest light.  To the left you ca  n see a string of pseudobulbs growing away from the column with their roots all exposed.  Note that the inflrescences are at several stages of development, from just emerging to losing their flowers.

Rainfall supplies the water needs of this plant, only at the height of the dry season is there a need to water it.  Here are approximate values for rainfall in the Rio Abajo area.

                             J       F      M       A       M       J       J       A       S      O      N      D

Rainfall (mm)      99    76     84      165    283    155   141   216    237   233  176   135

(inches)               3.9   3.0    3.3    6.5    11.1    6.1    5.5   8.5      9.3    9.1     6.9   5.3

Orchid hybrid, Miltassia Charles M, Fitch x Odontocidium Black Beauty

Photographed at the Christmass meeting of the Orquidistas de Puerto Rico group.  I found this plant interesting for its vivid colors and for the fact that no two of the lips of its flowers were patterned in exactly the same way.  The plant is the property of Fong Cing Li Objio.

Anolis cristatellus, the camouflage fail of rorschach patterned headed lizard

Generally the local immature Anolis cristatellus are quite a wary bunch.  Given that pretty much every predator around would love to snack on them, including the adult A. cristatellus, their alert demeanor is understandable.   The color of these immature lizards resembles quite closely the leaf litter.  When standing on the forest floor these small lizards are well camouflaged and virtually invisible.  But when these lizards step away from their normal background the color pattern makes them quite conspicuous.  Normally it is not easy to get close to these lizards because they are prone to run away quickly if they become even slightly alarmed.   But this lizard seemed to feel so comfortable perching on the flowers of this Renanthera orchid that it showed an unexpected reluctance to move away.  This allowed me to get close enough to it to take several photos against a background that highlights its camouflage pattern.  The fact that the lizard lacks the tip of its tail means that even a good camouflage is no guarantee of survival in an environment full of hungry and sharp eyed predators.

A hideous little pest of Bletia patula and other local orchids

The damage to the florar parts of Bletia patula flower betrays

 the handywork of a curculionid bettle that attacks the flowers of orchids.

Checking the flower shows that the bettle is hidden behind 

the lip of the flower, sometimes you find two bettles together.

If the bettle feels the flower is being handled, it tries to hide deeper between

 the lip and the petals.  If it is further annoyed it comes out of hiding and tries to flee.

If the bettle comes out of hiding, its usual strategy is to run to

 the end of a floral part and from there fall to the ground.

This particular flower bettle damages the flowers of many kinds of orchids in my garden.  Its local abundance varies seasonaly.  At certain times of the year I can find from one to five chewing in my flowers.  I think this might have to do with the peak of flower production by local plants, but this is just a guess.  Rather than use insecticide on them, I exploit their fleeing response by putting a cup with alcohol or dishwashing liquid under the flower and shaking the flower gently.  The usual result is that the bettle takes a dive into the liquid and then goes to the great orchid flower in the sky.  Thankfully for most of the year they are not present on the garden,    

These bettles are surprisingly hard for such a small insect.  It is not easy to crush them.   But if you are moved to squash them, they do produce a satisfying crunchy noise when crushed.  I have seen damaging flowers of Bulbophyllum, Cattleya, Dendrobium, Oncidium, Peristeria, Sphatoglottis and Bletia among others.

A yellow Epidendrum ciliare and an apparently fearsome night visitor

In January, I was in St. Croix and had the opportunity to see the wonderful orchid collection of Edna Hamilton, the President of the St. Croix Orchid society.  There I saw several plants of Epidendrum ciliare.  One of the plants has the peculiarity that its petals and sepals are not green as they are in the typical Epi. ciliare plant.  In this flower, which originated in Vieques, the floral segments are yellow.   At night these flowers are wonderfully fragrant.  It was nighttime when, as I was talking with Edna, I noticed a flash of bright red color moving among the flowers of this orchid.   Initially it appeared like a tarantula wasp was in the flower.  Edna was less than enthused with the insect, and with good reason, tarantula wasps can deliver one of the most painful stings in the insect world, only the bullet ant can deliver worse.  It has been described as "inmediate, excruciating pain that simply shuts down one's ability do to anything, except perhaps, scream.  Mental discipline simply does not work in these situations," - Justin Schmidt (see Schmidt pain Index).  But as I looked closely at the insect I realized that the "tarantula wasp" was in fact a moth. The mimicry was pretty good but the body proportions of the insect revealed that it was a deception.  The moth moved over the flower for a few moments and then left.

Dendrobium gouldii 'Black Koa' a yellow colored "antilope" Dendrobium

A mature flower with fully curled petals.

A newly opened flower.

A few years back I brought a seedling of this plant from Tropical Orchid Farm.  I have always liked “antelope” Dendrobium from the section Sphatulata (also known as Ceratobium) because of their resemblance to the heads of antelopes. This plant is native of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islandsm it has a number of differently colored forms.  Unfortunately my first plant proved to be a slow grower and would only produce small squat canes.  Undaunted, I brought another plant from TOF.  The new plant grew vigorously and promptly produced a cane that was at one feet and a half tall, much larger than any of the previous ones.  This cane produced an inflorescence in January and the first flowers opened in March. Now it is the middle of May and most flowers are still in good shape.  The inflorescence had about twenty flowers.

The flowers are yellow with a finely sculpted lip and the upraised twisted petals that are a notable characteristic of the section.  The distal end of the petals is a deep brown color which contrasts well with the color of the rest of the flower.  The flowers last for months in perfection, even when subjected to wind and rain.  My plant is growing in a pot with medium size stones as media as I have lost many a Dendrobium from root rot as a consequence of a waterlogged media.

The cultural advice I can give about this plant is the following.  I grow my best plant in a bright, airy spot.  I have grown my plants both in full sun and under shade cloth and the plant under shade cloth grew better.  Give the plant plenty of fertilizer and water when it is producing new canes.  When they are not growing I don’t fertilize my plants.  Avoid putting this orchid in media that can become so packed and waterlogged that the roots are deprived of oxygen, this will kill the roots.

Heraclides pelaus puertoricensis, a black butterfly endemic of Puerto Rico

Heraclides pelaus puertoricensis

This butterfly, Heraclides pelaus puertoricensis (in some places its named portoricensis, perhaps it was named in the Porto Rico era) is endemic of Puerto Rico and is common in some of our forests.  Getting close enough to one to be able to take a good photo of this species is not that common an ocurrence.  For some unknown reason this butterfly was amazingly indifferent to my proximity which allowed me to get very close to it.  In the Rio Abajo forest you can often see these butterflies flying around blooming trees and shrubs.  However they are always alert and react quickly to any attempt to get close to them by flying away.  My guess is that this butterfly was doing was a display to attract the attention of other butterflies.  When I touched it lightly it flew away with no sign of infirmity, and its wing were in good condition which dispels the possibility that it was ill.