October 2024

From Scott McGregor: All orchids grown outdoors, coastal southern California
Angraecum breve Mine bloomed a bit later than Roberta’s, but a great little species with a flower almost as big as the plant and a long spur.	Arundina graminifolia Grows best outside, in full sun, in a large pot of well-drained soil. The bamboo-like foliage is pretty even when not in bloom, and grows into a bush 3” high with small Cattleya-like flowers opening all summer.
Catasetum expansum Got female flowers this year—seems like a coin toss which gender of flowers I get each year! I grow it outside on the patio all year round with a few hours of full sun.	Miltonia regnellii A lovely and easily grown species, just starting to open some flowers.
Cleisocentrons Cleisocentron is a genus with a few species that have genuinely blue flowers. The easiest way (for me) to tell them apart is that C. merrillianum (pics 1 and 2) have terete (round) leaves, and C. gokusingii (pics 3 and 4) has V-shaped leaves. The first three pics are currently in bloom, and I’m grateful for pic #3 because the tiny plant is all that’s left of the thriving plant in pic #4. Roberta and I both experienced our happy plants inexplicably crashing a few years ago and I managed to save a small piece. Pic 5 is from last year and is of an unidentified Cleisocentron species that has broader and flatter leaves than C. gokusingii and perhaps the bluest flowers of the bunch—it is just starting to bud but alas I won’t have all three in bloom at the same time!
Cleisocentron merrillianum


Cleisocentron gokusingii (current, survivor)	Cleisocentron gokusingii (as it was once...)
	Cleisocentron sp. (from last year)

Eulophia petersii An orchid that thinks it is a cactus, from Saudi Arabia and neighboring deserts. Only one spike this year, but about 6’ long.
Epidendrum (Oerstedella) schweinfurthianum One of the best outdoor species if you can give it the full sun it needs— you’ll be rewarded with 4-5 months of saturated (too much for my iPhone camera) magenta and red/orange flowers. Grows into a bush about 4’ tall, but remains compact and can stay in the same (large) pot for a decade.	Sobralia xantholeuca A nicely fringed clone of S. xantholeuca.
	Trichoceros onanensis A cute bug-like flower from the cloud forests of Ecuador.

From Roberta Fox: Coastal southern California
Outside in the Back Yard:
Neocogniauxia monophylla This is a taxonomic oddity. For many years it was placed in the Cattleya tribe based on flower shape. However, it has no pseudobulbs. DNA analysis showed it to be more closely related to the Pleurothallid group. (So flower morphology did not get it even close) It comes from the Blue Mountains of Jamaica (the same area that is the source of the gourmet coffee). Elevation is 1000-1600 m., quite cool. There is only one other member of the genus (N. hexaptera) but they are so distinct that they haven't been lumped into a larger genus. It grows well in a small terracotta pot with sphagnum, kept very damp.
Cattleya bicolor var. brasiliensis Pseudobulb nearly 20 inches - a stately plant. It originates at elevations from near sea level to 1800 m, and has many color forms from green to brown and everything in between, always with that fluorescent hot pink lip.	Cattleya forbesii Another Brazillian Cattleya. This one is not dramatic, but it blooms several times a year, and is extremely cold tolerant.
Cattleya harrisoniana 'Volcano Queen' Also from Brazil. elevation 400-800 m.	Cattleya loddigesii f. coerulea 'Blue Sky' Species ranges from southern Brazil into Argentina and Paraguay. This one has been used a lot in coerulea hybridizing.
Cleisocentron gokusingii I was not able to rescue my plant of many years when it crashed a couple of years ago, so this is the replacement. When it bloomed last winter, the blue color was somethat deeper,which has been my experience over the years - cold improves the color saturation. Still, not bad. Compare the shorter, v-shaped leaves with Cleisocentron merrillianaum below.
Cleisocentron merrilianum Terete leaves with sharp points. The newer growth is climbing the mount, the older portion hangs freely. As with C. gokusingii, flowers that develop in cold weather have more saturated color. Both species bloom 2-3 times per year.

Catasetum incurvum Like all of my Catasetinae, this lived in the greenhouse during its winter dormancy, But it moved outside once nights were about about 55 deg F. It is native to Peru, Ecuador and Brazil. I bought it from a Peruvian vendor in 2016 and it stayed dormant for a year and a half getting its seasons straightened out. And sat there taking up room before finally blooming in 2022. It seems to have finally hit its stride. (Plants from near the equator tend to adjust seasons fairly easily, but this one was definitely on a southern hemisphere schedule, particularly challenging for highly seasonal species like this.)

Cymbidium dayanum f. alba The typical form is in bud, likely will bloom next month.
Dendrobium farmeri From a wide area of southeast Asia, elevation 300 - 1000 m. It blooms on mostly leafless canes. As is the case with most of my deciduous and semi-deciduous Dendrobium, I continue watering through the winter along with the rest of the populatin. I am convinced that rather than dryness, the cold is quite adequate for "setting the schedule" for these. In nature there is little rain in winter but there is humidity and morning dew so they don't really dry out. More light would probably be helpful - when the cloud cover goes away it is brighter, but here, they get what they get. The color of the segments of this species is variable, from light yellow to white to light pink on different plants.
Dendrobium griffithianum From Myanmar and northern Thailand, elevation about 490 m. IOSPE says that this is a warm grower. When I first got it it, it lived in the greenhouse where it didn't do much. It is doing much better outside.
Dendrobium hekouense From Yunnan, China, around 1000 m. Just completely cute! Flowers (around 3/4 inch) are bigger than the dead-looking pseudobulbs from which they emerge. Eventually it will produce a few leaves. When not in bloom, one can easily question whether it is even alive. Yes, it is very much alive!
Encyclia alata From southern Mexico into Central America. 1000-1300 m. It would proably grow better if it were a bit warmer, but it does bloom regularly though it it grows slowly. It is quite fragrant.
Gomesa (Ornithophora, Sigmatostalix) radicans The quarter-inch flowers look like little birds sitting on nests. Of the various genus assigments, Ornithophora is the most descriptive. This plant rambles over a fairly large cork mount with no moss, so it dries rapidly after watering. It has tolerated city water and rookie mistakes, and just keeps growing. Native to southern Brazil, about 400 m.

Guarianthe (Cattleya) bowringiana f. coerulea This one always blooms for me a month or so ahead of the typical form. This is a particularly vigorous plant. My Catts all seem to do best in baskets, prefereably wood, with little medium. Think of those as three-dimensional mounts.
Miltonia candida This is the season for Miltonias. This one is from southern Brazil, up to about 800 m.
Miltonia spectabilis f. bicolor Petals reflex a lot, but the lip is lovely. I have found that most of my Miltonias have rather yellow growths, espeically as they age, but it doesn't seem to indicate poor health, the plants grow and bloom very well.

Miltonia regnelli (typical form) These are very vigorous plants with multiple spikes. Buds open slowly, so the show will go on for 6 weeks or more.
Mitonia regnellii, aurea form Flowers tend to be somewhat smaller than those of the typical form, but the brilliant colors are spectacular, especially on freshly-opened flowers.	Lycaste schilleriana Flowers have heavy substance. There is a red overlay on the dark green sepals, so they appear bronze, and shiny. The color saturation on the lip varies from year to year. This was a really good year. Native to Colombia and Panama, elevation to 3000 m. Mine grows in a basket. Flowers often emerge from the side or bottem.
Sobralia violacea This is a stately plant, with canes around 5 feet tall though the footprint is fairly small. Like the rest of the genus, it blooms sequentially over several weeks, but each flower only lasts 1-2 days. I think it is one of the most beautiful orchids in my collection, even with the short flower life. It is native to a wide area of southern Central America into South America, elevations from 300-3300 m. Mine came from Ecuador.
Stanhopea jenischiana Stanhopeas tantalize, burst into glorious, fragrant bloom, and then rapidly fade. You just have to be there... Take a vacation, and you may miss it until next year.
Stanhopea wardii Always a reliable fall bloomer. As a plant gets bigger, there are more inflorescences, that bloom over several weeks. That extends the show.
In the greenhouse...
Dendrobium delacourii This was purchased as Den. venustum. I found an articlie on the AOS STIF blog, discussing an awarded plant that was submitted as Den. venustum and identified as Den. delacourii. The flowers are very similar, but Den. venustum is a big plant with canes up to 60 cm. Den. delacourii is a minature, with canes 2-5 cm long, which describes this plant. I have been growing it in the greenhouse where it seems quite happy, but it grows over a range of 250-1300 m, in Thailand, so I strongly suspect that it will be fine outside. I will move it in the spring, so it has a chance to acclimate. I love the fringed lip, with the accent of the brown-striped side lobes.
Phalaenopsis (Doritis) pulcherrima Some cultuvars may have flowers that are flatter, and those are likely to be used in breeding with the "traditional' Phalaenopsis to get what used to be Doritaenopsis. They are all Phals now. Here, you can see how the flowers are fairly flat when they open, but then the petals reflext strongly. This species tends to like higher light than the "traditional' Phalaenopsis.
Habenaria dentata I bought two tubers of what was supposed to be Habenara carnea. But as soon as the tubers sprouted it was clear that one of them wasn't. Fast forward to fall, this one bloomed first. After discussion with the vendor, and with both of us looking at lots of photos, I am convinced that this is truly Hab. dentata, based not only on the flower but the growth habit, which is quite tall (about 16 inches to the top of the inflorescence, has the potential to get much taller) It has beautiful flowers on that inflorescence. The other plant definitely IS Hab. carnea with its characteristic beautiful bronze patterened leaves- it may bloom next month. So I got a bonus! And where I thought that Hab. dentata needed to grow somewhat cooler, clearly this one was quite happy growing in the greenhouse with its "pot mate" which definitely IS a warm grower.
	The pot - Habenaria carnea (just the leaves) and Habenaria dentata opening. They were supposed to be the same, but one of these is not like the other...And I ended up with two lovely species instead of just one.

Phalaenopsis hieroglyphica You can see how the markings on the flowers reminded someone of hieroglyphic writing. Each inflorescence can produce many flowers sequentially. Each "scallop" on the spike is where there was once a flower. As the plant matures, it produces basal growths that produce more inforescences, so it becomes more and more floriforous. It does tend to produce a flush bloom once a year, unlike the related Phal. cornu-cervi and Phal. tetraspis, that tend to produce flowers randomly on and off all year.

Trichoglottis atropurpurea (Trichoglottis brachiata var. philippinensis) These dark burgundy flowers with the hot pink lip are quite long lasting, with heavy substance. The plant rambles wildly, producing roots all along the growths which branch in all directions. These are quite easy to propagate from cuttings. The trick to establishing a cutting is to place some of the roots in a pot in loose medium, supporiting the rest of the cutting on a stick or piece of hapu'u. Once it gets going, the pot becomes irrelevant but it does tend to need that start.

From Chris Ehrler:
California Central Coast Cool greenhouse unless otherwise noted.

Dracula cordobae 'Bartholomew' HCC/AOS This is an epiphyte growing in cloud forests in Ecuador at elevations of 750 to 1,000 meters in elevation. It is considered a warm growing species but is growing well in a cool greenhouse. Growing mounted to a piece of cedar board with some sphagnum moss on the roots. As with many of the Draculas, the spikes grow downward from the growths so it needs to either be mounted or grown in a mesh pot.
Epidendrum porpax A hot to cool growing, mat forming species found at elevations of 400 to 1,800 meters in wet montane and cloud forests in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil.
Masdevallia caudata A cool to cold growing epiphyte found in Colombia and western Venezuela at altitudes of 1,800 to 3,300 meters. Grown sphagnum moss in a clay pot.


Trichoceros antennifer A cool to cold growing terrestrial or lithophytic species growing on dry, exposed, steep mossy slopes amidst shrubs in cloud forests at altitudes of 1,800-4,100 meters from Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. This orchid is growing on a piece of manzanita with most of the plant hanging free of the mount
Trichoceros muralis A cool to cold terrestrial growing native in dry rocky regions in Ecuador and Peru at elevations of 2,200 to 3,200 meters. This orchid is growing on a piece of manzanita with most of the plant hanging free of the mount.
Zootrophion aguirrei Found in Colombia but details about its location are not provided in orchidspecies.com. The flowers of this species shown on the website have small purple spots which this one does not have. The pollinator must be very small as the opening at top of the purple stripe is tiny. Growingin a plastic pot filled with a mixture of bark and lava rock.

From Arnold Markman:
Coastal San Diego area Intermediate Greenhouse, daily watering unless otherwise noted.

Bulbophyllum pecten-veneris (labeled Bulbophyllum tingabarinum) Shown a couple of months ago, another flower. There isn't much information under the name "Bulb. tingabarium" and IOSPE says it is warm-growing. Mine gets cool to intermediate temperatures. (Ed: Kew lists the name as a synonym for Bulb. pectin-verneris, which is a fairly high-elevation species from a wide area of Himalaya and SE Asia. That would explain its cool-growing character)
Dendrochilum magnum This plant is from high elevations in the Philippines. It is grown in a medium bark in a terra-cotta pot.

Dendrochilum latifolium Another Orchid from high elevations in the Philippines

Encyclia rhynchophora This beautiful little orchid is found at higher elevations from Mexico down through Central America. The plant likes "bright and cool". The brightest part of my greenhouse is the warmest, but I opted to go for "bright" and the plant seems to like it there even if it may be warmer than its habitat.
Holcoglossum kimballianum This genus, which now maybe is changed to Vanda, is from Southeast Asia at elevations between 3500-4500 feet. Winter watering reduce just a little.

Masdevallia erinacea From Panama at 1400 m. This plant is a re-bloomer. I could not find much information on it other than it grows in premontaine rainforests between 700 to 1400 meteors in Costa Rica, Panama, Columbia, and Ecuador.

Miltonia regnellii This plant grows in wet Montagne forest in Brazil at 800 m. (Ed: This appears to be an alba or albescent form)

Gomesa (Ornithophora, Sigmatostalix) radicans This plant grows in Brazil at 1500 feet. Watering reduced in winter but never completely dry.
Prosthechea radicans This plant grows in Central America and it is the national flower of Belize. It grows in various types of forest up to 1900 m. This plant seems to flower all year.

Pteroceras semiteretifola This genus is from Vietnam growing in evergreen low land forests up to 1500 m. You can see a second inflorescence beginning on the right.

Trichoceros antennifer This plant is from Colombia and grows in cloud forests as high as 4100 m. It must get pretty cold up there. The photograph of it in the Internet Orchid Species Encyclopedia by Scott McGregor shows a flower that is greener than mine. (Ed: Color of the species varies from green to almost burgundy)