Stelis perpusilliflora Cogn. in I.Urban 1909 in El Yunque National Forest

 This orchid was photographed in El Yunque National forest.  The flowers are tiny and remain cupped when they open.  The inflorescence is horizontal with the flowers pointing downwards or to the side.  I had to bend the inflorescence upwards to get a view of the inside of the flowers.

Dendrobium stratiotes Rchb. f. 1886

 

In my experience, this Dendrobium does well and its easy to grow in Puerto Rico.  Once the canes have reached mature size, they will produce long lasting flowers.  The canes can vary in size depending on the genetics of the plant and the care it receives.   Sadly, I lost it because I became too complacent about its care.  The thing is, once the cane reaches the side of the pot, its a must to repot it taking care to damage the roots as little as possible.   Neglecting repotting can cause the loss of the plant once the roots that are in the pot die. 

Rhynchodendrum Cabalgata en Verde x Brassavola cucullata

 This hybrid is a cross of Rhynchodendrum Cabalgata en Verde (Epidendrum ciliare x Rhyncholaelia digbyana) and Brassavola cucullata.  It has a fimbriate lip that shows mainly the influence of Epi. ciliare and B. cucullata.  

Phragmipedium species from Ecuador

This orchid was in a garden.  The gardener told me it had been moved there from the site of a road construction.  The plant was growing well.

Maybe Acianthera cogniauxiana from Ecuador

An unidentified Pleurotallis species from Ecuador

I have not been able to identify it.

Coelogyne lentiginosa Lindl. 1852

This plant is being grown in the central part of the island, in a mountainous area where the local temperatures are usually cooler than on the rest of the island.

Dendrobium oligophyllum Gagnep.1950, a miniature

Kirchara Jairak Kiss

Rhyncholaelia digbyana [Lindley]Schlechter 1918

This orchid grows well in the coast of the Island of Puerto Rico.  Warm temperatures, high humidity and plentiful sunlight are well suited to its cultivation.   

Epidendrum schlechterianum Ames 1924

This species seems to offer no challenges to cultivate in Puerto Rico.  I have seen it growing well both in hot coastal lowlands and in the cooler mountainous interior.  It needs regular watering particularly when grown in the coast where wind and high temperatures dry up fern mounts comparatively quickly.  This orchid eventually covers its mount with a mass of growths.  I photographed this plant in the garden of one of my cousins.  As you can see he grows the plant in fairly high light which causes the new growths to develop a reddish tint.

Dendrobium delacourii Guillaumin 1924, this is the first plant of this species that I have seen blooming in Puerto Rico

Many years ago I tried to grow this species.  In spite of my best efforts, it eventually left my garden for the great, happy, terracota pot in the sky.  I regarded it as a cool grower that would slowly shrivel and die if cultivated in the sweltering climate of coastal Puerto Rico.  But it is now clear that this plant will not only grow and thrive in the hot coastal lowlands of the island but also bloom.  My friend Karlo Javy allowed me to photograph the flowers of its plants.  The true Dendrobium delacourii is a miniature plant with canes that are quite small and measure only a few inches, between four and six.  There are other species with similar flowers but in those, the canes are larger than those of delacourii.  This orchid is in a garden in the very heart of the metropolitan area of San Juan, the capital of the Island of Puerto Rico.  The coastal lowlands of Puerto Rico can get pretty hot, with temperatures reaching into the high nineties.  On windless days it can feel as if the whole island had been dropped into an oven.  But this plant is doing well and has bloomed repeatedly.

I find the flowers of this orchid particularly interesting due to their ciliate lip, a feature that is not common in the genus Dendrobium.  

Dendrobium spectabile flower visited by the large carpenter bee Xylocopa mordax

Because I live in the tropics, my orchid collection is all outside.  I live in the middle of an state forest which means that insects of all sorts are plentiful (this means the place is also infested with lots of spiders).  It is a common occurrence for orchids to be visited by insects.  However getting a photo of pollinators is not necessarily easy, as most visits are over in seconds.  I was lucky enough to catch this large carpenter bee in flagrante delicto.

Dendrobium Roy Tokunaga

This Dendrobium grew well in my garden.  It bloomed reliably and the flowers were long lasting.

Encyclia cordigera [HBK] Dressler 1964, the typical form of the species, sometimes sold as a "semi alba"

In Puerto Rico, this species poses no challenge to cultivate.  It can tolerate drought and grows best if it gets a few hours of full sun every day.  Note that is its growing in a basket that hardly has any potting material.  The bane of this species is root loss due to overwatering.  I just doesn't tolerate media that remains wet.  I grow my plants high in the orchid house, just under the shade clothe where they get the brightest light.  Good fertilization while in active growth is the key to large pseudobulbs.

Dendrobium purpureum Roxb. 1820 var. alba, first blooming 2016

This is the first time this plant has bloomed for me.  The plant is still small, I expect that as it get bigger the inflorescences will be larger and fuller.

Psychilis krugii Sauleda, Psy kraenzlinii (Bello) Sauleda y Psy. x raganii

Psy. x raganii, hybrid of Psy. kraenzlinii and Psy. krugii

Psy. kraenzlinii

Psy. krugii

Yamadara Sammie Evans, Mayaguez orchid society show, September 2016

Catasetum saccatum 'Danelis' AM/AOS, Mayaguez orchid society show, September 2016

I was delighted to find impressively cultivated and pleasantly weird plant literaly in a sea of Cattleyas.  Catasetum and his hybrids have a dedicated following locally and their popularity is growing.   Most plants exhibited in orchid shows are hybrids but from time to time a species shows up.

Ornithophora radicans (Rchb. f.) Garay & Pabst 1951, a miniature that produces many flowers

I photographed this miniature at the Mayaguez orchid society show in September.   This plant is popular in Puerto Rico and it is common to see plants on display at the various orchid shows.  Even small plants produce many flowers.  The flowers are quite small and pose a challenge to get a good photo.