Ponthieva ventricosa (Griseb.) Fawc. & Rendle, the colony of this orchid that grows near my house survived hurricane Maria.

The small colony of this orchid that is near my house survived hurricane Maria.  However, the plants suffered mightily from sunburn due to the fact that the loss of the canopy allowed the harsh rays of the full tropical sun to hit the plants.  Most plant lost all their leaves.  The plants grew new, small leaves.  Most of the plants appear to have survived the aftermath of the hurricane but it remains to be seen how it will affect them the increased level of sunlight they are getting as well as the decrease in rain and the raised temperatures due to the massive loss of leaves from the trees.

Bulbophyllum carunculatum Garay, Hamer, & Siegrist 1994

This plant was a given to me by the Mayaguez Orchid society.  It has grown well in the warm and humid environment of my garden.

Cranichis muscosa Sw. 1788, one of the first orchids blooming in the Rio Abajo forest, Puerto Rico, after hurricane Maria.

I found this orchid in a roadside.  The leaves had its sides sunburned and the plant was small for the species.  It escaped being buried in a mass of fallen bamboo stems.  It is growing on the side of a road cut, a drier place than where I am used to find them.  When I saw it I was happy that some plants survived.  The loss of the canopy due to the hurricane winds was a disaster for the plants used to grow on the shade of the forest understory, many burned to a crisp and died.  The reduced humidity in the weeks after the hurricane also was an issue.  Many plants were smothered by the massive leaf fall and the numerous large branches that were thrown violently to the forest floor.

Stanhopea panamensis N.H. Williams & Whitten 1988, this plant came from a selfing of the clone "chocolate mint"

I have had this plant for many years. It is easy to cultivate in my climate and pests don't bother it.  It has a very strong fragrance reminiscent of chocolate.

Bulbophyllum scaberulum (Rolfe) Bolus 1889, the flowers are tiny, intricate gems.

This orchid is an African Bulbophyllym of the section megaclinium.  I brought it some years ago.  It had a few small pseudobulbs and was mounted in cork.  I tied the cork plaque to a wire basket full of bark and allowed the plant to roam free.  I grew it shady with frequent watering and fertilizer.  The flower grew well and spread over the basket but failed to bloom.  This year I noted that the plant had plenty of adult sized pseudobulbs so it should have bloomed some time ago.  My rule of thumb is that if a plant is not blooming the first thing to check it to see if it is getting enough light.  I moved it to a brighter part of the shade house, only a short distance away from where it was growing.  In weeks the inflorescences started appearing.

Will the real Arachnis flos-aeris (L.) Rchb. f. 1886, please stand up?

The real Arachnis flos aeris

In Puerto Rico, Arachnis plants are common in gardens, whoever almost all are hybrids.  The most common of which is Arachnis Maggie Oei "Yellow Ribbon".  Slightly less common is the clone Maggie Oei "Red Ribbon".  There are other clones of this hybrid but they are much more rare, one that is particularly beautiful is "Maroon".  The species itself is quite rare and few people grow it.  An image search on the Internet will yield many photos of Maggie Oei identified as the species.  Maggie Oei is a hybrid of two Arachnis species.

I was visiting a friend in the town of lares when I noticed that some of its plants were subtly different from Maggie Oei, the leaves were longer and slightly curled.  It turned out that the plants were Arachnis flos aeris.  The flowers of flos aeris are quite similar to that of the hybrids that were produced with it but the petals are more hooked and the dorsal petal produces a musky odor, one old name for the species was A, moschifera.

Arachnis Maggie Oei "Red Ribbon"