Domingoa haematochila (Rchb. f.) Carabia 1943, photo from the 2013 visit

In 2012 I visited Mona Island and was able to take photos of Domingoa haematochila plants near the Sardinera camping area.  Unfortunately the plants there were small and in poor shape.  Also my camera died on my second day on the island and I had to use a camera loaned to me by a friend.  I knew there were far larger and healthier plants in the interior of the island, but getting there is a challenging and dangerous endeavour, even for a trained biologist.  Happily I was allowed to tag along a group of botanist that planned to go deep into the island interior.  The botanist set a punishing fast walking pace in their hike because they wanted to get as far into the island as possible before the temperatures became dangerous.  How high did the temperature climb?  By 1:00 pm the bare limestone was at a toasty 136F/58C, our boots were themselves at 100F/38C.  The hair at the top of the head of one of the botanist was at 103F/40C.  It was some strenous walking and I spent most of the time drenched in sweat, but I managed to get some good photographs of large plants with flowers in good condition (with my new camera Yeah!).

The conditions in the limestone plateau of Mona Island are incredibly harsh for human beings but some orchids have evolved the capacity to grow and even thrive under them.  However there are spots here and there on the island where the ecosystem provides for microclimates that are less extreme, it is in these spots that Domingoa grows best.  However you can find plant of Domingoa in places in the island where conditions are difficult and don't allow for large plants.

This plant is very rare in cultivation locally.  Mostly due to the fact that local growers prefer large flowered orchids but also due to the fact that most growers here are unfamiliar with native orchids.  Given that this plant grows in a habitat the is inimical to human life, it doesn't at present faces any threat to its survival.

Domingoa haematochila (Rchb. f.) Carabia 1943, in situ in Mona Island in the Caribbean

This flower opened in the morning after a spell of strong rain

A whole plant view.  This plant had five inflorecenses, two with flowers.

For many years, in the eighties and nineties, I used to visit Mona Island on a yearly basis.   One of the things that lured me to Mona was that it is full of many interesting species of plants and animals.   I was particularly intrigued by the orchids of Mona.  The environment of Mona Island is not one that most people would associate with orchids. 

Most of the island is a plateau composed of limestone.  Here and there are pockets of soil in which shrubs and trees eke out an existence but most of the surface is bare limestone.  Rainfall is seasonal and can be scant, weeks, sometimes months, can go without measurable rain.   Temperatures can rise over 100F out in the plateau, I still remember my surprise (on a previous visit) when a thermometer I carried with me on a walk during the hottest time of the day measured 120 F.   The dominant vegetation on the plateau is shrubs, cactus and low trees.  There are places where the limestone has eroded to the point that sunken depressions have formed and accumulated a layer of soil where more substantial trees can grow.  But almost all of these depressions are small.  One of the largest one, the Bajura de los Cerezos has large trees and is moister than the surrounding terrain.  Domingoa in Puerto Rico lives in this severe but beautiful environment.

The last time I visited Mona Island, around 1996, I found many stemmed plants of Domingoa in the moister environment of the “bajuras”.  I had also found plants in the hot and very sunny plateau, but those were much smaller and much less common than the ones in moister surroundings.   In particular I found a good sized plant within easy walking distance of the camping area.   Sadly, the photos I took of the plant at this time were not good.

I visited Mona again between the 20 and 24 of July of 2012.  It was a wonderful experience.  One of the first things I did was to seek out the Domingoa plant to see if still survived.   I went looking for the place where I had seen it last and sure enough the plants were there.  I was dismayed by the fact that all the plants I found had developing buds or spent flowers.  Not a single one had an open flower.  However, one of the nights there was a spell of rain, the next day I found an open flower.  The plant I found had five inflorescences, one with a newly opened flower another with a bud just opening and one with a tiny developing flower bud.

Unlike many orchids Domingoa is pretty secure from collecting pressures.  Most of the island is off-limits to visitors and, even in those places where hiking is allowed, high temperatures, fierce sunlight and hordes of mosquitos tend to keep away all but the very hardiest of hikers.  I don’t know if Domingoa plants are in cultivation on the island of PR, I don’t recall ever seen plants exhibited in local orchid shows.  Domingoa haematocheila is reported from Cuba, Hispaniola and Puerto Rico. Ackerman in  his book An Orchid Flora of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands reports that the forms from Mona are vegetatively much smaller than the forms from Cuba.