Laelia marginata also known as Schomburgkia crispa Lindley 1838

I brought this plant as a large seedling a few years ago.  I can’t say I gave it any particular attention.  It was just there in the bench with all the other orchids.   The only thing that I made sure was that the media in which it was growing was composed of good quality bark and that the mix allowed plenty of air to reach the roots.  This is very, very important in these orchids as the roots will rot if the media becomes anoxic which can happen if it becomes waterlogged.  I speak this out of sad experience, I have lost plants because I neglected to repot them timely and the media decomposed and killed all the roots.

This plant is growing in my garden in the north coast of Puerto Rico.   Temperatures in the area can soar into the nineties during the hottest part of the day, nighttime lows are around 75F but at the cusp of summer sometimes they barely go under 80 degrees.  Between the months of May and December it rains regularly, sometimes abundantly but in winter and early spring the weather can be very dry.  The trade winds are good for the plants most of the year but during the dry season they can desiccate the plants pretty fast.

This plant gets fertilized when it is in its growth phase, it gets no fertilized when it is not growing.  It is growing under shade cloth, but one that allows for plenty of light to get through, this is not a plant that loves shade.  So far I have had no problems with pests with this species, although some other Laelias in my garden have had to be treated for scale insects.

So far I have had no problems with this plant except that it grew relatively slowly, but perhaps that is partly my fault for not giving it particular attention when it was in the growth phase of its yearly cycle.   The only complaint that I can make is that it will be a pretty large plant when it reaches full adult size, this is clearly not a plant for the grower with limited space.  On the other hand it will make an impressive garden plant in places where the climate allows for growing this plant outside.

Calanthe (Vintage Wine 'Mendenhall' x Rozel 'Red Velvet) frist bloom

First bloom to open in my garden of this Calanthe hybrid.  I like the color.  The plants are very easy to cultivate but few people in Puerto Rico culture them.  

Some Bulbophyllum that have bloomed in late Autumn and early Winter in 2014-2015

Bulbophyllum sumatranum

Bulbophyllum blumei

Bulbophyllum lobbii var. Malacca

Bulbophyllum Elizabeth Ann

Bulbophyllum Lovely Elizabeth

Bulbophyllum lepidum

Bulbophyllum longissimum

Bulbophyllum lasiochilum - dark form

Bulbophyllum Melting Point

Sobralia callosa L.O. Williams 1946, a tiny representative of a genus know for its gigantic plants

Until a few years ago, all the Sobralias I knew were either large, or gigantic plants.   When I visited Ecuador I saw Sobralia plants with fifteen feet tall canes.    About two years ago I brought a Sobralia decora and was pleasantly surprised at how well it did in my garden.   Encouraged by my success with Sob. decora I decided to try other species.  Among the species I brought was Sobralia callosa.

At first I was overly enthused with this plant as I had never seen it in bloom in any local show or group meeting, a sign that either it was not that popular, or that few people were able to keep it alive.  But I was pleasantly surprised when it grew well without any special attention.  In 2014, it bloomed three times.  The first time it bloomed I missed it entirely and only found out when I noticed the wilted flower.  The second time it bloomed it produced a single flower, then in its last bloom of the year it produced four.

The photos here are of the flowers produced in January 7, 2015.  I expect that as the plant gets larger the number of flowering stems will increase.  The plant is practically microscopic by Sobralia standards, the stems barely reaching nine inches, this makes it the ideal plant for those that want to enjoy the flowers of this genus but lack the space to keep even the medium sized species.

I have yet to repot this plant from its original pot.  My experience repotting these plants have been varied.  I repotted Sobralia decora and it kept growing well without missing a beat.  I repotted Sobralia violacea it died slowly, never producing a new growth.  So my advice would be, if you are repotting these genus, to be careful and try to avoid damage to the root ball.

Sobralia callosa grows well in my climatic area, during most of the year it experiences highs in the middle seventies and low in the middle sixties.   In the summer temperatures can climb into the middle eighties but remain there just for a few hours.  I don’t fertilize this species often, watering is done weekly during the dry season, during the wet season it can rain daily for weeks or months on end.  The plant is in a place where it gets full morning sun from 8:00 until 10:30 am the rest of the day it gets sunlight filtered thought the canopy of trees that surround the house.

Epidendrum boricuarum Hágsater & Sánchez Mata 1993, "in situ" in the Rio Abajo Forest

This species is found in Hispaniola and in Puerto Rico, is also probably found in other neighboring islands (Ackerman 2014).  It is similar to Epidendrum difforme and for many years it was considered this species.  I have seen it in many places growing in live and dead trees.  It is a common species.    I have previously photographed this species in situ in El Yunque mountain in the Sierra de Luquillo.   The photos here are from the karst region of Puerto Rico near the center of the island.  These photos were taken at roughly 1000 feet of altitude in the Rio Abajo forest.  The plants are growing on trees close to the edge of a wetland.  Humidity in the area is very high and the soil is permanently wet.

It is not uncommon to see plants of this species in captivity.  I have seen plants that seemed to have been in captivity for many years but these are a small minority and are either in the hands of skilled orchidists or of people that live in this orchid habitat.  I suspect that these plants fare poorly when removed from the wild mainly due to the lack of knowledge of the collectors of its particular care these plants need to survive in captivity.    In general orchids from the mountainous interior of the island, which is wet and relatively cool tend to fare very poorly when they are taken to the drier, much hotter environment that prevails in the coastal lowlands and then not provided with the level of humidity that prevails in their habitat. 

  

Ackerman J. D. 2014.  Orchid Flora of the Greater Antilles.

Liparis saundersiana Rchb. f. a terrestrial orchid from Puerto Rico

In many years visiting the Maricao Forest I had never encountered this species.  Then in December of 2014, as I was looking at a plant of Epidendrum anceps, I noticed that there were several plants of this species a few feet away.  I could have easily missed the plants had I not looked at the right place, they are small and inconspicuous, a rosette of a few leaves flush with the leaf litter.    But once I had noticed the plants, I saw them at several places.  The plants must be deciduous since I have examined the places where they are growing many times and would have noticed them if they had been present.

For some reason all the plants I found were growing among fearsomely thorny plants and reaching them to take a photo was not that easy.  The largest group of plants was nested among a clump of Pitcairnia bromeliads.  A few plants here and there were under some thorny vines.  As I stepped in to take a photo a large thorn stabbed me on the foot through the shoe.  It was very painful.  The sacrifices one makes to get a photo!

All the plants I saw were producing seed pods and seemed in good health.  The plants are quite safe in their habitat as it is unlikely anyone will collect them and they live in a protected area.     Next year when I visit them I will wear thorn resistant clothes and footwear!