Chondranthes Andrea Niessen, 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.  

Paphiopedilum Wossner Kolarmi (Paph. armeniacum x Paph. kolopakingii)

In most orchid shows in Puerto Rico, Paphiopedilum plants are few and almost always multifloral hybrids of rothschildianum or phillippinense.  So it was a delight to find a hybrid of a parvisepalum paphiopedilum on display at the Mayaguez Orchid society show last September.  Very few people locally cultivate armeniacum hybrids, so I was great to have the opportunity to photograph this plant.  The flowers were large, showy and had a hard, almost leathery texture.  In the top photo the top sepal was reflexed by the owner to show the line pattern, the flowers naturally look like the bottom photo.

Basiphyllea corallicola (Small) Ames, one of our native orchids of Puerto Rico

I found this orchid in the Maricao forest.  I have walked many times by the place where this clump of plants is growing and never noticed them.  They are practically invisible without their inflorescences.  This plant is rarely photographed.  I always thought that Basiphyllea flowers remained almost completely closed, but it seems there is a population in Maricao where flowers open wide.  Unfortunately when I found this clump, a few buds remained and only a single, damaged flower was opened wide.

Paphiopedilum Gloria Naugle (Paphiopedilum rothschildianum × Paphiopedilum micranthum)

Few people cultivate Paphipedilum in the island of Puerto Rico, so it is always a treat when one is put on exhibition.  This one was shown at the Mayaguez Orchid Society show, in September 29, 2016.