Coilostylis (Epidendrum) ciliare, a night fragrant moth pollinated orchid native of Puerto Rico

Coilostylis ciliare, this is the presentation of the lip of a newly opened flower

Inflorescence, top view

Inflorescence, side view

A flower that has been open for a few days

A flower that has been open for more than a week, the reason for the color change is unclear but may be a signal for pollinators

The flower of a cross of Blc. Toshie Aoki and Coi. ciliare

Coilostylis ciliare is part of a group of green and white flowered orchids that have similar - looking flowers which are native of Puerto Rico.  This group of orchids is comprised of Epidendrum caphoporum, Epidendrum tridens, Epidendrum nocturnum and Coilostylis ciliare.  Of all these orchids the only one with a fringed lip is Coilostylis ciliare.   Coilostylis ciliare has a wide distribution on the island of Puerto Rico, I have seen plants from several places in the island.   Lately this plant has been renamed Coilostylis ciliare.

 I received as a gift a plant that originally came from the area of Utuado.  This plant had pseudobulbs only five to six inches tall and produced inflorescences of two to four flowers, it bloomed in the spring.   Sadly this I lost this plant which was among the smallest of all Coi. ciliare I have ever seen.  I also have a plant that hails from the east of the island and whose pseudobulbs reach nine to ten inches tall and that produces inflorescences that have four to nine flowers.  This plant ranks among the hardiest of my orchids.  It has survived everything that I or the weather has thrown its way from drought and deep shade to overwatering, neglect and very bright light conditions.   My plant usual response to adversity is to produced dwarfed pseudobuls that don’t bloom.  James Ackermann  says in his book that the plants of Puerto Rico might represent a conglomerate of sibling species.  He suggest that the population of plants of the Karst area in the north may be a different species, however this issue remains unresolved as far as I know.

My plant blooms between December and January.  I have seen large moths flying around the flower but have not seen them actually take the pollinia away from them.  The care of this plant is among the simplest.  It demands a well drained, airy media and strong light to do well.  However it will survive  under and grow reasonably well shady conditions but blooming will be poor if the shade is too deep.  In my experience it will grow and bloom even if not fertilized as long as it is planted in some sort of organic media but the pseudobulbs will be smaller than those of a well cared plant.

Some of these orchids are reported to have nice fragrances, but my plant is not one of those.  The way I perceive the fragrance of my plant is as if I was smelling a bunch of upset stinkbugs.  When there are many flowers open at the same time I find the smell overpowering but not in a good way.

In the early eighties I visited the island of Culebra and found an enormous population of this plant growing along the sides of a ravine in one of the most remote and little traveled sections of the island.  I haven’t forgotten the sight of thousands of plants of this species blooming at the same time.  None of the plants were growing on trees they were all growing on large boulders at the sides of the ravine.  Some of the boulders were covered with masses of plants that were several feet wide.  Unfortunately at the time I saw all these plants growing and blooming together I was not interested in growing or even photographing orchids so I regarded it as an interesting but not a particularly photo worthy subject.  How I have come to regret that judgment!

In 1989 hurricane Hugo went over the island of Culebra as a category four hurricane.  The damage to the vegetation and the infrastructure was severe.  I returned to the island and thought about visiting the colony of orchids, but it turned out that reaching the colony was an impossible dream.  I managed to get to nearby hill from which the area of the colony could be glimpsed with binoculars.  The colony showed the most pitiful aspect imaginable.  Practically every large tree had fallen exposing the whole colony to harsh sunlight.  As a result you could see the remains of thousands of sunburned, bleached, dead stems among the shrubs that had managed to survive the tremendous force of the winds.  Reaching the colony was impossible due to the tremendous damage the forest had received which rendered the whole area nearly impassable due to the large quantity of fallen branches and trees quite a few of which were fearsomely spiny.

But even among the destruction and carnage you could see here and there a few plants that had survived because they had been growing in narrow crevices between the huge boulders and had been sheltered from the worse of the winds, the falling debris and the sun.   By the time I visited Culebra many months had passed since the hurricane and already the vegetation, although mightily beaten, was showing signs of recuperation.

It has been many years since the last time I was in the island of Culebra, I wonder if I returned to the ravine whether I would find the orchids thriving again.  The area where the orchids grew is a protected area so the chances that the surviving plants managed to reseed the whole area are high.  The orchids of the Caribbean have live for millions of years on the island and probably have endured many cycles of destruction and rebirth.  I only hope one day I can return to the nearby hill where I last glimpsed the orchids to see how they have fared and maybe even glimpse their blooming even if from afar.

I have seen this orchid from time to time in local collections but, judging from the times I have seen exhibited at orchid shows, it seems it has become rarer in the last few years as orchid hybrids have become the focal point of many collections.  Some of the plants of this species at I have seen at orchid shows appeared to be from commercial sources outside the island.  There have been a few plants of this species that have exceptionally fine flowers but they are not often seen.  I saw a hybrid of Blc. Toshie Aoki and Coi. ciliare at an orchid show.  I also saw a photo of a Rhycholaelia digbyana/ Coi. ciliare cross.  But both plants are unavailable commercially.  Eli of Utuado had cross of Coi. ciliare with pastel pink flowers but I don’t remember which plant was the other parent.

Campylocentrum filiforme, a bizzare native orchid that challenges our concept of what an orchid must be

Campylocentrum filiforme, the stems visible in the photo are new and old inflorescences and not the main plant body which is buried under the roots

The roots you see criss crossing the branch in the photo are the orchid, no leaves or stem is visible, inflorescences with seed pods are visible in the center of the photo

A close view

A close up shows the roots which look silvery white when they are dry but turn green when wet, both live and dead roots are visible in the photo

Campylocentrum filiforme ranks among the most bizarre of all of our native orchids.  What people universally regard to be the “orchid”, and I am referring here to the plant body, in this species has become reduced to an extreme degree.  The stem of this plant has been reduced to the point that it barely reaches a centimeter in length.  And the centimeter of stem that comprises the plant body is practically invisible due to the many roots that surround it.  In this species the roots dominate to such an extent that the plant is predominantly a tangle of roots with the stem forming a vanishingly small proportion of the biomass of the plant.

As a result this plant is the orchid world equivalent of a ghost.  Due to the apparent absence of a stem most people fail to recognize this plant as an orchid or even as a discrete plant.  Perhaps a particularly observant person might notice that there are orchid roots growing around the twigs and branches but since there are no leaves in sight anywhere it is probably that it will fail to perceive that the tangle of roots itself is the orchid.

This orchid is regarded as among the most advanced, from an evolutionary stand point, of all orchids.  The plant has abandoned the stem as a locus of photosynthesis and has shifted this function entirely to the roots.  What advantage can this radical departure from the norm of the plant world can this adaptation give this orchid?

The most accepted theory is that the leave less condition of the plant allows it to survive on the meagrest of resources, in a niche where no other plant can compete successfully or even survive.  These plants are mainly found in places where humidity is abundant such as swamps and moist forest areas but I have them also growing in disturbed areas.   Because they depart from most people conception of what a plant must be they are utterly invisible to the average person.  Because they survive with such limited resources these plants are not known to produce large or showy flowers but there are a few exceptions.

 Dendrophylax lindenii, the Florida Ghost orchid, another leave less species of orchid, made news all over the world when a plant in a reserve produced nine flowers at the same time, an unusual event.  The plant itself could hardly be distinguished in the photos from the bark of the tree where it was growing so, on first sight, the inflorescences with their large showy flowers looked like they were springing from the trunk of the tree.

Campylocentrum filiforme is classified as a rare orchid by Ackermann in his book on orchids of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.  But it may be that it is more abundant that records indicate given its stealthy nature.  Apparently nothing is known about the pollination of this species.  It is not in cultivation and probably almost all local orchid growers are unaware that these plants exist.  I have never seen then on exhibition even in shows where there have been displays specifically devoted to native orchids.  Seems to be short lived in the wild as all the plants I monitored died when the twigs in which they were growing decayed.

Amazona vittata, The Puertorican parrot, roosting behavior in the wild

Branch used by several parrots to roost, note the way the leaves and smaller branches have been stripped away

There are seventeen parrots in this photo, it was taken just after dawn, at the moment the first sun rays were stricking the tops of the trees

A branch used by a single pair, see how they have stripped the branch of leaves for a considerable lenght.  They sleep together at the very tip of the branch.

Part of one of the largest flocks of this species since the 1950's, there are twenty two birds in the photo, the flock was composed of thirty two birds.

The birds continue circling and calling and sometimes fly around almost until it is too dark to see

In this unique photo you can see a pair at night

The birds have excellent hearing, and probably have a small degree of night vision.

The Rio Abajo wild flock spends the day foraging in the forest, usually in small flocks of a few birds, but during the months of July to December in the evening they tend to form a large flock that sleeps in a single roosting area.  This is related to their breeding cycle, during the breeding season, which lasts from January to July in the RA forest, the birds become more aggressive, territorial and less likely to form large groups.  Once the chicks fledge the parents aggression toward other birds lessens to a considerable degree and they become much more social.

The roosting flock assembles in the evening and the way they choose which tree they will roost is very noisy and interesting.  First the birds start arriving at an area where several trees are used to sleep.  As the birds arrive they start calling and interacting with the other birds.  Then they start flying back and forth between the different trees singly and in small groups.

The impression I get is that they are going through a process of ascertaining where is the larger concentration of parrots, sort of a popularity vote between the different roosting spots.    As nightfall starts the groups in flight become bigger and bigger until at times the whole flock is in the air at the same time.  Just as it is getting too dark to see the flock finally settles in a single spot with all, or nearly all the birds in a fairly small part of the tree.

The parrots keep calling and squabbling for some time after it is dark but eventually they fall silent.  The parrots are not passive users of the roosting trees, they modify favorite sleeping branches by removing leaves for at times a considerable length of the branch.  Then they sleep near or at the very tip of the denuded branch.  MY guess is that this is an anti-predator measure but this is just speculation as any place where the parrots spend a considerable amount of time eventually becomes denuded of leaves and quite wretched looking due to their proclivity to chew with their powerful bills anything that is at hand nearby when they are perched in a spot.

The flock wakes up early but generally doesn’t leave their roost until the rays of the sun start striking the top of the tallest trees.  Then they might take flight in a single large and very noisy group that lands again after circling over the roost a few times.  After this the birds start slowly going their own way in small groups away from the roosting area.

If you happen to run into one of these roosting areas during a hike in the forest I would ask that you please don’t disturb the birds.  If the parrots are disturbed they will flee the area and abandon the roosting tree.  In the nineties the whole PR parrot population that used to live around the area of the old aviary high near El Yunque peak relocated to the west part of the forest near el Verde.   The suspicion of the project scientists is that the birds fled the area they formerly used because they were alarmed and disturbed when military exercises were staged on the forest.  I can’t blame them, I would have moved too.

Dendrobium anosmum and their relatives, warning signs of cultural trouble

Vigorous and healthy root growth, note that the cane producing the roots is twice as thick as the previous growth

New roots are white older ones are grey green, absence of root growth is a clear signal of trouble

Fungal and bacterial infections can strike with astonishing speed and virulence, this is all that remained of a specimen plant of Dendrobium formosum var. giganteum.  If the gravity of the situation had been recognized on time at least some pices would have been saved for propagation

This Dendrobium nobile has been growing for many years in an avocado tree under hot tropical conditions.  It has never bloomed although in all aspects it is mature plant fully capable of blooming.

Dendrobium nobile blooming in a shady and cool location.

A Dendrobium phalaenopsis derived hybrid which lost all its roots due to inappropiate potting, all the old roots are dead but some new roots are showing their tips near the base of the canes.

The buds at the base of this canes are dead so the plant is producing new growths from buds higher up in the cane.

The base of these canes of Den. primulinum was damaged by sunburn and died.     The canes were bent so that the keikis produced by them can attach themselves to the basket.  Notice the many keikis and their abundant root growth.

Den. phalaenopsis hybrid grown with its roots exposed.  Note the abundant flower production and the fully leafed new cane.  It is normal for older canes to lose their leaves after the first year.

Under good care some keikis will bloom even when they are not affixed to anything

When they are growing at their preferred temperature and lighting range, well cared pendent dendrobiums grow vigorously, without any particular trouble and bloom reasonably well. But when they are grown under conditions that are unsuitable for them several things happen that serve as a warning signs that the plant is not doing well. I will detail some that I have learned from the bitterest experience. This is a work in progress and I will try to add information as time permits.

I. When your plant needs a colder rest period to bloom than you can provide.

If a plant needs a colder rest period to bloom but otherwise the conditions are to its liking you will get an endless production of handsome canes, which will be plump and healthy but will never bloom or even get in bud. Because circumstances prevent them from blooming these plants channel their energy into growth and can produce quite large plants. One Den. chrysanthum I have eventually produced a ten feet long cane. This particular plant has never produced even a single bud under the local climatical conditions. Dendrobium nobile will not usually bloom in coastal Puerto Rico but will bloom nicely if moved to locations about a 1,000 feet high in the mountain areas and in certain colder inland areas. There are plants here and there that bloom under conditions that are not in their usual preferred range but usually they do so erratically or poorly.

II. When the temperature is not in the preferred range for growth.

The first signs of trouble in this case is usually a lack of root growth. Unfortunately some pendent dendrobiums can survive for many years growing weakly and with root systems that barely sustain whatever meagre growth they manage. It can happen that the plants perk up and do produce good growth during brief times when conditions are to their liking, but as soon as temperatures drift out of their preferred range the plants weaken again. I brought a Den. falconeri that managed to survive ten years by growing acceptably during the brief weeks that local temperatures dipped and then sulking the rest of the year. Strenuous efforts to sustain this plant only lengthened the agony. Eventually the plant dissolved into a mass of tiny canes and diminutive keikis that were too weak to survive the summers heat. Keiki production on a a same year growth is also a very bad warning sign. It usually means that the plant inability to produce roots has made it transfer its energy to keiki production.

III. When it is not getting enough sunlight

If your plant is not getting enough sunlight to bloom properly you will probably get a few blooms right on the tip of the cane. A plant that might produce dozens of blooms might only produce two or three. The canes themselves might get to be abnormally long and thin. The leaves will have a deep green color.

IV. When roots are not entering the potting mix, or holding the mount.

This probably mean the mix is unsuitable for the plant because it has some characteristic that is inhibiting or killing root growth. A friend of mine accidentally killed many of his orchids by mounting them on the wood of a plant whose wood is permeated by a substance this plant secretes to kill other plants that  might compete with it for food or sunlight.  

V. A growth coming from a cane other than last years cane, if last year cane doesn't grow.

It probably means that the base of its newer cane is dead and the plant is trying to keep alive by producing growths elsewhere. In some plants, (this is an specially insidious occurrence in pendent dendrobiums) a cane that has shed its leaves can continue attached to a dead base without any obvious signs of distress for months before decay reveals that the base is dead.

VI.When a cane suddenly stops growing in the middle of producing a new leaf.

Usually means that something has severed the connection between the growing tip and the base of the plant. I have seen this happens when an insect gnaws the middle of a cane and makes a cavity but leaves it mostly attached to the base on the sides of the cane. This can cause the death of the whole cane, not just the tip.  On some ocassions this can signal a bacterial or fungal infection of a stealthy nature that only becomes obvious when the cane starts to decay rapidly at a time when it should have been growing.

VII. Blackened and sunken areas between the base of the plant and the lower part of the cane.

Can mean sunburn to this area, can result on the death of the plant but the survival of some of the canes.

VIII. Profuse keiki production on plants that normally produce them sparingly.

A sign of root loss, or of loss of the buds at the base of the plant.

IX. A weaker cane than the previous year's cane.

Plant is not getting what it needs to grow well, common in newly repoted plants that have suffered severe root loss and plant adjusting to new environments.

All this information is courtesy of the need to unwind after an unexpedtedly streesful day at work.

Working on an artificial nest used by a wild pair of Amazona vittata, the Puerto Rican parrot

Ivan Llerandi Roman the leader of the wild release project, note all the equipment hanging from Ivan's utility belt

Gustavo Olivieri

An artificial nest high up in a tree

A wild female turning the eggs, they turn the eggs over every fifteen minutes on average

A baby that has just hatched is gently cupped under the wing by the female, you can see the part of the egg shell under the head of the female.  You can see the head of the newly hatched baby near the center of the photo.

Eddie Velez

The top part of the cage in the photo is about twenty feet all.

One of the more secretive aspects of the parrot project is the work that is done with the wild nests.  The reason for the secrecy is to protect the nests from unwanted human intervention which can, sad to say, include the theft of the nestlings for sale.  Unfortunately even well meaning people can cause a nest to fail if they try to approach it when the parrots are nesting.    Therefore the work of the people that manage the nests in the wild is practically unknown by the general public.  Another problem that affects the recognition of the achievements of the field workers in the area of nest management is that most of this work takes place deep in forested areas where the conditions generally are not conductive for good photography.  As a result this work is rarely documented and even more rarely described on print.  The need for artificial nests in the wild is due to the fact that for centuries and all the way up to the middle of the twenty century the main fuel for the island was wood.  As a result there was severe deforestation on many parts of the island and even on places where the forest now appears in a reasonably good health old trees are few and far between.  Also at the start of the twenty century there was a forestry theory that deemed old, hole ridden, mature trees less desirable than young trees which were still growing vigorously.  As a result in some forest areas old trees were cut down to encourage new growth. 

But in 2009 and 2010 we had the unexpected opportunity to document the work in a nest in a tree inside the aviary.  It has to be noted that the wild release staff pretty unhappy with the location of this nest.  Its location inside the aviary grounds raised all sort of issues about unintended disturbance of the breeders during our daily work at the aviary.  But they had to submit to the will of the parrot pair that signaled they wanted to nest in this particular area, and that was that.  The pair that chose this nest is the one whose male is known by the nickname “Scarface”.   The “Scarface” pair had been haunting the area around the aviary for a couple of years and had rejected or ignored all the nests that were offered in other areas.  For some reason known only to them, the pair decided that they wanted to nest inside the aviary.  Those that are old hands at the PR parrot project know that this is a startling, unheard of situation as wild nests in the east part of the island in the Luquillo mountains are in rugged, hard to get locations, well away from human habitation and the possibility of human disturbance.    But the silver lining in this particular case is that secrecy is not needed as the nest is closely, and jealously,  guarded by the staff.  The way we adapted to the presence of the breeding pair and the tolerance they showed for our rhythm of work helped bring a collective sigh of relief from everybody as from historical reports we know that Puertorican parrots nests have been abandoned over disturbances that other bird species would have ignored.

The tree where the artificial nest is located has to be prepared to receive the nest and fitted with the necessary infrastructure that allows maintenance and checking of the nest.  This particular nest has a close circuit camera that operates in the infrared region of the spectrum, this allows us to check the birds without disturbing their nesting activities.

The photos posted shows work done is 2009 and 2010.  Working with wild nests demands stamina, impressive upper level strength and the ability to work while hanging from ropes in leg and butt numbing positions.  Obviously a lack of fear of height is a must in this kind of work, you will notice that there is a large vanilla orchid on top of the nest, I have never climbed there to check that orchid out.

The nest needs to be fitted with wooden entrances to allow the birds to gnaw on the wood of the entrance, an important part of their nest choosing/preparing procedure.   The nest is also checked periodically during the breeding season to see the condition of the eggs and chicks and to band the chicks.

 To our great happiness the clutch in the nest was incubated flawlessly by the female.  The pair raised two healthy babies than on due time fledged from the nest.  I had the opportunity to observe closely and in unparalleled comfort (in relation to the experience of watching  other nests wild nests both in El Yunque and Rio Abajo) the whole breeding cycle.

I hope these photos give you an idea of the strenuous nature of this little known aspect of our work that is as crucial for the survival of the population at the Rio Abajo forest as the more widely publicized aspects of iur operation.  I would ask of all of you that if you come across a parrot nest in the wild, please do not, under any condition, try to climb the tree or disturb the parrots in any way, this will only make our work much, much harder and may make the parrots abandon the area altogether.   Another reason not to climb up to the nest is the very real possibility of falling from the tree.  Finding someone with its neck broken from a fall who has died sloooowly while being eaten alive by fire ants, centipedes and eyeball and brain gouging beetles would probably leave us inconsolable for about ten seconds after which we would have to make arrangements to drag the body out of the forest, notify the next of kin and present a nomination for a Darwin award on behalf of the dumb-as-a-doorknob deceased.

I want to add that if we notice anyone disturbing the parrots on their nesting areas we will call the local police, notify the federal government, the vigilantes of the DNER and I will personally call their mothers to tell them in no uncertain terms what horribly inconsiderate children they have.   So far we have had absolutely no problems with anyone bothering the parrots or their nests and we hope it stays this way.

Leochilus puertoricensis a small epiphytic orchid endemic of Puerto Rico

The flowers are green these look slightly yellowish because they were photographed when full sun was shining on them

You can see on this plant the remains of two inflorescences that failed to set seed

In this case the inflorescence is long enough to bring the flowers out of the shade

Two plants growing and blooming on a branch of a guava tree.

A plant growing on a guava branch

The first time I saw this small orchid was about twenty five years ago in El Cañon de San Cristobal.  I was hiking along the Cañon’s floor when I came across a tiny plant of this species lying on the ground with the remains of the twig it had been clinging still attached to its roots.  I was fascinated with the tiny plant and took the took it home.  A few weeks later I was surprised when an inflorescence came out of the plant that up to that time I had thought belonged to a seedling Oncidium altissimum.  When the first inflorescence lost its flowers the plant bloomed again.  I didn’t know the identity of the orchid as at that time there was not much information around on native orchids.  The plant died a few months after it finished blooming and I always wondered what I had done to make the plant die under my care.  For many years afterwards I never saw this orchid again, even when I visited and camped in areas that are within its geographical area of distribution.  This Leochilus was described in 1986 as Leochilus puertoricensis by Mark W. Chase.

In 1999 I started working as leader of the captive propagation program of the Puertorrican parrot project so I moved to the aviary which is in the heart of the Rio Abajo forest.  I was always on the lookout for this orchid but for the first few years I never saw it.  Then one day as I was walking around the aviary grounds I noticed a tiny orchidaceous leaf sticking out of the moss covered base of a Croton ornamental bush.  Intrigued by the leaves I started searching the area and found several seedlings growing in the stems of the Croton bushes.  In due time these orchids bloomed, set seed and then died.  I have seen this cycle repeated several times in the eleven years that I have lived at the aviary.  You find a few scattered seedlings on guava or Miconia trees, the seedlings grow rapidly, bloom, produce seed capsules, scatter the seed and then inevitably die.   One baffling characteristic of this species is that the plants always die after blooming and setting seed, even those plants that seem to be in places that appear to be ideal for their continual long term survival.

At this moment in the aviary you can’t find any plants of this species in any of the trees that have hosted them in the previous years.  You can say the same thing about Campylocentrum, Ionopsis and Tolumnia orchids in the aviary, in my early years in the aviary they were so common I never gave them a second though, now with the exception of Ion. satyrioides all have disappeared from the area of the aviary.  I only hope I am still here the day they return.

Leochilus puertorricensis is not in cultivation or has any horticultural importance but on rare occasions you can find wild collected plants in orchid collections.  Every time you can see that the roots are still attached to remnants of their twing or branch perch.   So far I have known of no plant that has shown long term survival in captivity even when the plants were put into a trees in areas where this species grows naturally.