Epidendrum nutans Sw. 1788

Psychilis monensis Sauleda 1988, a strange flower with unusually shaped floral parts.

The island of Mona, is in the middle of the Mona Channel, this is between the islands of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico.  The whole island is a wildlife reserve.  Although to most people this deserted island looks pristine, this is an illusion.  The island was subjected to different types of exploitation for centuries.  Its native flora and fauna was often severely damaged both by humans and by introduced animals.

But in the latter part of the twenty century the island was left alone to recuperate and nature is healing the scars left by Man.  The island has several species of orchids, the most abundant by far is Psychilis monensis.  I have seen places in the island where these orchids are downright abundant.  In habitat that is in good condition, large plants of this species can be found growing around the bases of shrubs.  But you can also find these orchids growing on the rocks, on cactus and on living or dying trees.

The flowers of this species vary in color and shape, even when you look at a small area, neighboring plants can have flowers that are noticeably different.  When I visit the island I am always on the look for variants that I have not seen before.  In the case of this particular plant, I found it while hiking deep into the interior of the island.  The plant is growing up on a tree but the inflorescence hangs down so that the flowers are at an eye height.

The flower has an asymmetrical lip, in itself this is a curiosity,  But the main oddity is a second small half lip pointing up from the right side of the flower.  None of the other flower segments is quite right.   I was in the spot where this plant grows for only a short time, I was unable to ascertain if this was a single occurrence or that the plant produced all its flowers like this.  Given the difficulty of reaching the spot where this plant grows, it is unlikely another person has come across this plant.  If I have the opportunity I will try to return to the place to see if it normally produces flowers like this.

Encyclia bractescens (Lindl.) Hoehne 1952

I brought this small Encyclia decades ago.  I has not failed to bloom every year between April and May.  I have two plants, both attached to pieces of tree fern.  This plant grows well in the hot, sunny conditions of coastal Puerto Rico.  I have it just under the shadecloth where it gets the brightest light possible without exposing it to direct sun.

The only problem that I have had with this orchid is that it loathes media that is too water retentive.  I had a wonderful specimen plant that would produce hundreds of flowers at a time.  I lost most of the plant because the tree fern plaque in which it was growing decayed so much that it started retaining water to the extent that it would dry very, very slowly.  This caused rot in the center of the specimen plant, I had to cut it in pieces in the process of removing the decayed and rotting parts.

This orchid needs frequent fertilizer applications when it is producing its new pseudobulbs.  If this is not done the pseudobulbs might not reach their full potential.  Given that this plant do best in small mounts that don't retain much water, you have to work out on your own which schedule of watering will produce the best growth.  I have seen plants of this species being grown on terracota mounts with absolutely no media.