Orchid Borealis

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Polystachya longiscapa

It's been a while since I have posted here, but I had a bit of time to take photos of my Polystachya longiscapa . I purchased this plant from Afri Orchids in Summer 2019, and this is the second bloom under my care. The type specimen was collected from the slopes of Lupanga Peak (Lukwangule Platerau), the southern part of the Uluguru Mountains , in Tanzania. The species are found in both northern and western slopes of the Uluguru Mountains at altitude 700-1680m as a lithophyte (Mytnik-Eismont et al. 2011). In nature, this species is found in only this area, so it is a narrow endemic species. Interesting, the Uluguru mountains appear to contain many plant species endemic to the area (Temu et al. 2008). When I saw the flowers, I thought they look quite different from the typical flowers of Polystachya . Indeed, the placement of this rather taxonomically unique species has been difficult. Some authors separated the early branching Polystachya ...

Angraecum viguieri

Angraecum viguieri is native to northern and central Madagascar (Province of Antsiranana and Toamasina , Cribb & Hermans 2009). Thy occur in Humid, evergreen forest on plateau and mossy ridge-top forest from the elevations of 900-1100m. Based on the elevation range, I was growing it at a warm end of intermediate temperature for 7 years; the max/min daily temperature is 29-27/21-24C (80-85/70-75F) in the summer and 18-21/16-18C (65-70/60-65F) in the winter. It kept growing, but I didn't get any flowers. In September 2021, I removed it from the mount and potted it. That's why the stem has the bonsai-like bent. I also moved it to a cooler area; the max/min daily temperature is 29/18C (84/65F) in the summer and 21/13C (70/55F) in the winter. And I finally got rewarded with the fragrant flower this year. The cooler area also gives more seasonal variation in the temperature, compared to the relatively constant temperature of the basement....

Paphiopedilum mastersianum

Paphiopedilum mastersianum is known to occur in Ambon Island and Buru Island , a part of the Maluk Islands in Indonesia (Cribb 1988). The Maluk Islands are located between Sulawesi and New Guinea. It grows at elevations between 900-2000m in they shady montane forest (Cribb 1988). The lime green dorsal sepal with the white margin beatutifully contrasts with the deep maroon of the petals. I have been growing them from the flask for 6 years, and this is the first blooming among the siblings. Frequently, we don't know the lineages of orchids, but here I want to write down what is know about the history of this plant. I got the flask ( TN8004 ) from Troy Meyers Conservatory in May 2016. Seeds were sown in January 2015 ( link to photos of seeds). This flask was derived from SlipperTalk collaboration ( link ). Actually, my plants are the second generation from the collaboration. My friend, Rick Lockwood, got pollen from Uri Baruk's plant ('Uri' = 'MC3991'), a...

Phalaenopsis mariae

I received this plant as a small seedling from Olympic Orchids 10 years ago. This species recycles old flowering stalk, so new flowering branches are added to the old ones. It was growing in an area where many orchids were forming a tangled mess. I had to re-pot it, and during the process of extraction, I probably lost 30-40% of buds (broke a couple branches). Phalaenopsis mariae is from Philippines (Luzon, Mindoro, Mindanao, and Sulu-Archipelago) and north eastern tip of Borneo Island, growing under 600m of elevation. It seems to do well under an intermediate temperature, and moderate amount of light. Dissected flower. The scale below is mm. The right petal, dorsal sepal, and right lateral sepal are showing the adaxial sufrace (i.e., the side facing front of the flower opposite of the stem). The abaxial surface (closer to the stem, back-side) is shown for the left petal and lateral sepal. The Lip before the removal of the side-lobes. It ...

Cattleya loddigesii and Cattleya harrisoniana

Cattleya harrisoniana Cattleya loddigesii and Cattleya harrisoniana are beautiful species; the shape of the flower is well-proportioned and appealing to me. I'm not completely sure if my plants are correctly identified, but I decided to make a comparison between them since they flowered at the same time since these two species look very similar. The web pages of Miranda Orchids used to contain extensive information about Cattleya . Unfortunately, these pages were gone after the redesign. But the previous informative web site can be found in Internet Archive ( link ), and the differences of C. loddigesii and C. harrisoniana are described here . According to the web page, the geographic distributions of these two species are mostly not overlapping; C. harrisoniana in the east, coastal region and C. loddigesii in the west, interior region of Brazil. there are some area where two species co-occur. The flowering season is different; C. loddigesii i...

Cattleya maxima

Cattleya maxima is one of the oldest described species of Cattleya . Lindley described C. maxima in 1831, after describing the first Cattleya , C. labiata , in 1821. Four additional bifoliate Cattleya (each pseudobulb usually produces 2 leaves) were described between these two species. Although it was the second described unifoliate (single-leaf) Cattleya , it was the first species discovered in this genus. Spanish botanists sent the herbarium specimen of C. maxima in 1777, but nothing was done to the specimen for over 50 years. Chadwick and Chadwick (2006) contains the details of the history of the discovery, disappearance, and re-discovery of this beautiful species. You can also read the story in their web site ( link ). Some unifoliate Cattalya are difficult to identify because they look similar. But C. maxima is relatively easy to recognize due to the unique floral feature, the yellow stripe in the middle of the lip. This featu...