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This species is found in Central America,
South America and the West Indies. In
Puerto Rico this is a common orchid in moist districts from sea level to high
elevation (900 mts.), it frequently grows in roadside trees.¹ I have seen these orchids in many places in
the island. Unfortunately, it is
impossible to know if the plants I see in the wild are foliosa or concreta if
the plants are not in bloom. Even when in
bloom, the differences between these species are based on technical details of
the lip and column that don’t exactly leap to the eye. My best guess is that the plant and
inflorescences in this article are foliosa.
I
found this plant close to my home, in the Rio Abajo forest, this greatly
facilitated taking the photos of the plant and the inflorescence.
The flowers of these orchids are
small, yellowish green. In the case of
this particular plant, the flowers don’t open.
The flowers in the photos are cleistogamic, that is, they self-pollinate
and never open. As a result of this
pollination strategy the plant produces many seedpods.
A few years ago, in an orchid
internet forum, a person that had visited the island told me that it had
collected seedpods from an orchid he had seen on the roadside. From the description it was clear it was a Polystachya. I told the person it was hardly worth the
effort to spend time and money sowing seeds of Polystachia, given the
possibility that the plants produced would never open their flowers. The person, which appeared to have only a
tenuous understanding of orchids, was clearly put off by the news that the
seedpods were not of a rare or showy orchid.
I wonder if the person went ahead anyway and sowed the seeds.
¹ Ackerman, James D. 1995.
An orchid flora of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
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