Epidendrum atacazoicum, an orchid native of Ecuador

This Epidendrum native of Ecuador produces large many flowered piramidal inflorescences.  The inflorescences are quite showy both due to their sheer size and to the lovely presentation.  This is a large plant, in the plant shot it might look small but this is due to the fact that behind it are the 15 feet tall canes of a large Sobralia orchid.  The specific name of the plant is because there is a volcano en Ecuador named Atacazo.  This plant grows in cool, wet montane forest.  I have not seen photos of this plant being cultivated out of its native range except for this plant which I saw at the Quito Botanical Gardens, in Ecuador.

Odontoglossum crispum hybrid, at the Quito Botanical Garden, Ecuador

I had the pleasure of seeing this beautiful orchid from Colombia at the Quito Botanical Gardens.  The orchid was exhibited on a rock platform.  The flowers are long lasting as the whole inflorescence was open when I visited for the first time and when I came back two weeks later they were still in perfect condition.  This plant is a cool grower that dies when exposed to continuous high temperatures.  In this location the plant were on an open greenhouse which had temperatures of close to 45F at night and 75F during the day.

Cyrtochilum serratum an orchid from Ecuador

I first saw this orchid in a greenhouse in Quito Botanical Gardens.  But later I saw it growing in cultivation near Centro del Mundo and in Mindo.  The plant seems to be a vigorous grower and all the plants I saw had inflorescences.  The fact that I saw no seedlings anywhere I went makes me think that the plants were taken from the wild and planted in the places where I saw them.  All the plants I saw were adults.  The inflorescences are very long. I saw one that was about nine feet long and had several short branches along its lenght.  The flowers seem to be produced continuously along the inflorescence, all the inflorescences I saw had only a few flowers on them, near the tip of the inflorescence.  I saw a plant tied to a bamboo pole about eight feet up from the ground, its inflorescence had been trained along the lenght of the bamboo pole so that people could enjoy the flowers at eye level.  This plant is a cool grower from the Andes where it grows at elevation that can surpass the 9,000 feet.  This means that it is wholly unsuited for cultivation at sea level in hot locales.  It comes from western Ecuador and Peru.

Scaphosepalum dalstroemii, Quito Botanical Garden

This small orchid is found in Ecuador near the border with Peru in the high cloud forest of los Andes.  Since it grows at around 9,000 feet high in the mountains in cool to cold wet forests growing these plants outside their natural range demands careful attention to their growing conditions.  A few hardcore orchid enthusiasts in the United States grow this beauties but they are generally unknown in the wider orchid growing circles.  In Puerto Rico I have never seen a plant of this genus under cultivation.  

Epidendrum porphyreum, in Quito Botanical Gardens, Ecuador

An inflorescence of Epidendrum porphyreum

Plants growing in the grounds of the Quito Botanical Gardens

An inflorescence close up

This orchid was seen at the Quito Botanical Gardens, Quito, Ecuador.  This plant was planted in the ground in several spots in the garden and inside the orchid house.  The plants are large and some were just shy of four feet tall when in full bloom.  It grows in Ecuador and Colombia under cool to cold conditions in wet mountain forests.  It thrives under a daily cycle of temperature that goes from the middle forties at night to the middle seventies during the day.  Plants in full bloom are very attractive and a group of them is spectacular.  However I suspect its large size and particular growing needs have prevented this plant from becoming popular among orchid growers outside Ecuador.  I would love to grow this plant but it is pretty doubtful it would survive the high summer temperatures and the ocassional dry spell.  I. wonder if anyone has made hybrids of this plant that might be more tolerant of higher temperatures and drier growing conditions, you can dream, can't you?

Epidendrum embreei or maybe sphatatum, from Ecuador

This Epidendrum was seen growing in the Quito Botanical Garden, Quito, Ecuador.

There were a few plants of this deligthful orchid planted in the grounds and greenhouses of the Quito Botanical Gardens.  All the plants were growing vigorously and blooming beautifully.   Unfortunately I didn't get to see this plant growing in the wild, all the plants I saw were in cultivation.  I have not seen this plant in Puerto Rico in cultivation and I suspect it would do very poorly in my tropical country.  The biggest plants I saw were growing under the shade of some large trees.  The main reason I think this plant would not grow well in Puerto Rico is due to the fact that I saw it growing in areas with a 30 degree Farenheit difference between day and night.  In the Quito area during my visit, temperatures could go down to the middle forties in the night and climb to the middle seventies in the day, a temperature differencial impossible to get in the lowland tropics without artificial cooling.