Orchid Borealis

Happy New Year! This is the first time blooming of this  Brasiliorchis kautskyi  for me.  Last year, it tried to flower, but it didn't have enough energy after the import from Bela Vista.  But it seems to be happier this year. Brasiliorchis kautskyi  was in genus  Maxillaria , but Singer et al. (2007) proposed good reasons to separate some related species into a separate genus,  Brasiliorchis .  The species is known to occur in Espírito Santo, Brazil.  The type specimen was collected from the vicinity of Domingos Martins  where minimum/maximum temperature is 19/29C (66/84F) in the summer and 14/25C (57/77F) in the winter. The species epithet is after Roberto Anselmo Kautsky.  He was a botanists from Domingos Martins, Espirito Santo, Brazil, and discovered many species. In 2003, he and his friends founded Instituto Kautsky , whose mission is to promote the preservation and protection of natural resources. He passed...

According to IOSPE page ( link ), this species is from Ecuador on a volcano at elevations of 1500 to 2000m.  It was originally described as Maxillaria volcanica .  I got this from Mundiflora in October 2015.  It quickly established and started to grow immediately, and it has been flowering for 3 months or so, and the number of flowers are gradually increasing.  I couldn't find any information about the culture of this species, so I contacted Marni Turkel .  She has been always helpful and kindly got information about this species from her friend, Dan Newman of Hanging Gardens , who has seen the natural habitat of this species, and has been growing it for more than 15 years.  Dan gave me a detailed description.  Thank you, Dan!  His winter minimum temp is around 13C (55F), and mentioned that it seems to be ok with higher or lower temperature.  Indeed, I'm growing at lower temperature; the temperature stays constant at 20C (68F) du...