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One of the defining characteristics of Psy. macconnelliae is its large pink lip. This particular plant is notable for having a pure white lip. The plant is not an alba form since you can see it can produce pink pigments by the color of the column of the flower. It is from the island of St. Croix, where there are large populations of this orchid growing near the seaside. Generally, in Psychilis species one can see a degree of intraspecific variation in color of the flowers. But the only other plants with a pure white lip I have seen are the alba forms of Psy, krugii. For a view of the usual color of the flowers of Psy. macconelliae, use the following link: https://ricardogupi.blogspot.com/2013/08/psychilis-macconnelliae-from-st-croix.html
In the Rio Abajo forest in Arecibo I was able to observe a male Puerto Rican parrot cupping his wings and moving his body from side to side on a bare branch a few feet from two females. The male is making himself seem larger and he is moving in a way that presumably is particularly sensual and attractive. The two females were liking the sap that was oozing from the raquis of a banana leaf. The females had broken the raquis to gain access to the sap. It seems the dance was a success, eventually the male left and the females followed him.
En el bosque de Rio Abajo, Arecibo, pude observar un macho de cotorra de Puerto Rico abriendo parcialmente sus alas y moviendo su cuerpo de lado a lado en una rama a algunos pies de dos hembras. El macho esta haciendo su cuerpo mas grande y moviéndose en lo que presumimos que es una forma especialmente sensual y atractiva. Las dos hembras, se encontraban lamiendo la savia que manaba del raquis de una hoja de guineo que habían partido adrede para tener acceso a la savia. Al parecer la danza fue exitosa, cuando el macho se fue, las hembras lo siguieron.
Alba forms of Bletia patula are very rare in Puerto Rico. For many years no local plants that are pure white were seen. There was a single clone, cultivated in Mayaguez that was awarded by the American Orchid Society. This plant was photographed "in situ" in a swampy area in the northern karst region. It is part of a very tiny population. Most of the flowers were grievously damaged either by insects or some kind of fungal or bacteria spotting of the pure white floral segments.
In the difficult weeks and months after the hurricane, I lost hundreds of plants to the changed conditions of illumination, humidity and rainfall. This is one of the survivors of hurricane Maria. Last year it was in poor shape and it didn't bloom. The 2018 canes were small for the plant but they were large enough to produce four flowers. I expect that as it recuperates from the damage it suffered after the hurricane it will go back to blooming well. It is highly fragrant and even with only four flowers it perfumes the area around it.
Hurricane Maria caused grievous damage to the forest where I live. Many trees fell and the canopy was destroyed in most of the forest. Humidity and rainfall dropped. Because there was no canopy the area temperature went up. Also without the canopy the full power of the tropical sun hit all the understory plants burning them severely and killing some. I lost many of my orchids to the changed environmental circumstances. But some survived through it all. Among them Dendrobium harveyanum. In the last month it has not rained and the plants are suffering. I wonder if this period of low humidity triggered this out of season blooming of the harveyanum.
