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. 

Lepanthes caritensis a rare Puerto Rican endemic orchid

Lepanthes caritensis

This orchid is rarely seen and even less often photographed.   Found only in particular mountains of the east of Puerto Rico this orchid is quite tiny and often overlook.  At one time they were thought to ocurr in a very restricted area where only 196 individuals were known to ocurr.  Amazingly half of the plants of the species were found in a single tree!  But it now appears to have a wider distribution than was realized.  I found a few plants but sadly after hurricane Earl thinned the canopy in the area where they grew they dissapeared.   Hopefully one day I will find more plants to photograph.  This plant is not in circulation in the orchid growing circles, I know of just a single plant in captivity.  The photo I saw of the plant is apparently being cared by a particularly skilled orchidist as shows it thriving under cultivation.  However I ask you not to remove these plants from the wild as keeping them healthy and alive away from their natural habitat is not and endeavour for the casual orchidist and most likely will result in the death of the plant.