Orchid Species Photo Gallery Four

Peristeria elata W. Hooker (1831.)

   The Peristeria generic name is derived from the Greek peristerion, (dove in English) referring to the interior of the flower reminiscent of a descending dove. For this reason the English vernacular name is "Dove Orchid".
It is the national flower of Panama, where it is called "Holy Ghost Orchid": the metaphor alludes to the Holy Ghost descending on the altar.

   Peristeria elata is a large terrestrial plant locally common in Panama, growing even at roadsides at certain places.
The overall appearance is not entirely unlike to the appearance of large Gladioluses. Its inflorescences are collected in huge quantities and used for decorations during religious and other celebrations since centuries.

   Peristeria elata was listed in CITES as one of the nine (!) most strictly protected orchids - on purely irrational gut feelings of overly worrisome orchid experts. Later there were proposals to downlist it because if for nothing else then for the religious implications this regulation is not enforceable and it is a time-proven fact that in spite of collecting its inflorescences en masse, this orchid is not in real danger in its natural habitats.

   Heavy feeder, requires well drained compost (!) not poor "orchid mixes". It is deciduous, when the new pseudobulbs mature plants need dry, cool (12-15 ºC, 53 - 59 ºF) rest period.

Vanda coerulea Lindley (1847.)

Large epiphyte growing on stunted oak and other trees in exposed environments in Assam, Burma and Thailand.
(Those are the so-called "jangal" plant associations hugely different from the primeval tropical forests and rainforests conjured up in the minds of many people by the English "jungle" word, the derivative of the Hindi "jangal".)

According to certain sources the generic name is derived from the Sanskrit name of an another orchid, known today as Vanda tessellata (Roxbourgh) G. Don (1830.)
Originally the Vanda name was adopted from Sanskrit by W. Jones in 1795 when he established the Vanda genus based on Vanda roxburghii. However, in Sanskrit Vanda was the name of parasitic plants belonging in Loranthaceae, the mistletoe family. And it has to be recalled here that in Jones's time epiphytic orchids were believed to be parasites on their supporting trees.

V. coerulea was discovered in the Khasia Hills in 1837 and for having blue flowers not too common in the orchid family it was collected and exported into Europe in huge quantities.
Blue was the favorite flower color of Queen Victoria and loyal Englishmen, including orchid nursery firms were just all too eager to please the Queen - and Her Majesty's Most Obedient Orchid Enthusiast Servants.

V. coerulea is strictly protected in its natural habitats - because indiscriminate collecting reduced its natural populations to dangerously low levels.

Vanda coerulea Lindley (1847.)
The photo shows selected, extremely dark blue clone of the species. Old litographs give much better idea about the true appearance of the wild form and comparing the two images can be thought-inspiring concerning what can be achieved horticulturally ...

Psychopsis versteegianum (Pulle) Lückel et Braem (1982.)

There are four species recognized in the Psychopsis genus erected by Rafinesque-Schmaltz in 1838. His proposal was not accepted for almost one and a half century and species of the Psychopsis concept were and in horticulture still often are included into the Oncidium genus.

Although H. G. Jones resurrected Psychopsis in 1975 yet this generic name is not universally accepted even today.
The four species occur in a wide area in Surinam, Ecuador and Peru, differ mainly in flower size, color patterns and minute flower details not obvious to the untrained eye.

Many cultivated plants labelled as P. sanderae (Rolfe) Lückel et Braem (1982.) are referable to P. versteegianum if you agree that the presence or absence of pinhead-sized glands on the column wing lacerations is a good excuse for sorting local varieties of orchids (occuring in Peru and Surinam, respectively) into different species.

Neither of these two is as common in cultivation as Psychopsis papilio (Lindley) Lückel et Braem (1982.),
P. kramerianum (Kränzlin) Lückel et Braem (1982.) or their hybrid, P. 'Kalihi' is.

Cymbidium dayanum Reichenbach f. (18xx.)

The Cymbidium genus includes about fifty species occurring in India, Southeast Asia, China, Japan, Indonesia and Australia.

The generic name is derived from kymbes, name of the boat-shaped drinking cup in Greek, referring to the shape of the lip.

Hybrids of Cymbidium species are among the horticulturally most important orchids produced in huge quantities first of all for the cut flower industry.

Many species and hybrids are inconveniently large for orchid enthusiasts having limited space.

These plants are either epiphytes or grow as terrestrials and in general produce large masses of roots. Therefore, generously sized pots or baskets are necessary for them.

Cymbidium dayanum shown here is not too common in hobbyist collections. It is dedicated to J. Day, prominent English orchid enthusiast in the XIXth century. It is one of the warm-growing species.

Galeandra greenwoodiana Warford (1992.)

There are about twenty Neotropical epiphytic orchid species in the Galeandra genus established by John Lindley in 1830. In the generic name galea (helmet in Greek) refers to the shape of the anther cap.

In nature Galeandra greenwoodiana is one of the rarest orchids. The first, single specimen discovered then described for science by Mrs. Natalie Warford was found in Nayarit State, Mexico.

The original habitat was in a pine patch, itself a curiosity in the tropical forest area. This single orchid was stumbled upon on a felled and burnt pine log and the orchid was also damaged by the fire. After the rescued plant produced its first inflorescence (shown here) and became clear that it is new to science, systematic searches in the region resulted in discovering 2 - 3 more habitats but this orchid is rare even in those locations.

As a result of careful, international propagation programme conducted in academic institutions and botanical gardens by time Galeandra greenwoodiana became available for the general public of orchid enthusiasts as well. A showy orchid indeed and not difficult to cultivate under conditions appropriate say for most of the Cattleya species and hybrids.

Cohniella stacyi (Garay) Christenson (1999.)

   This showy orchid belongs in the Cebolletae section established by John Lindley in 1842 to include into a homogenous concept the so-called rat-tail Oncidium species characterized by terete leaves.

   The orchid shown on this photograph was first described in 1973 as Oncidium stacyi Garay

   During the revision of the rat-tail Oncidiums it was transferred to a genus newly created to include 9 species, under the name Stilifolium wittii (Oppenheim) Königer & Pongratz (1982.).

   Recently it was re-named as Cohniella stacyi (Garay) Christenson.

  The specimen shown here was collected in Brazil.

   It is a robust epiphyte, which can develop 3-4 feet long pendant leaves growing downwards. The large flowers open on a short stem emerging from the root neck of the plant.

   It is a true rarity in cultivation.

Gomesa recurva R. Brown (1815.)

There are about 20 species in the Gomesa genus dedicated to Dr Bernardino Antonio Gomes, Portuguese naval physician.

The species belonging in this genus are distributed into three alliances out of which one is the alliance centered on G. recurva. This group is characterized by pseudobulbs tightly packed along the short rhizome and having connate lateral sepals.

Gomesa recurva is native to Brazil, introduced into cultivation in Europe nearly two centuries ago.

In nature it prefers microhabitats located near to the ground on the trunks of large trees, never reached by direct sunlight, constant, high atmospheric humidity and minimal air movement.

Its small, about 1 inches flowers are opened in great numbers on the arching spike and are scented.
Certainly deserve a closer look!

Phaius tankervilliae (Banks) Blume (1790.)

There are about 30 species in the Phaius genus occuring in a wast area including locations in Africa, Madagascar, Asia, Indonesia, New Guinea, the Pacific Islands and Australia.

The generic name is derived from the Greek phaios meaning grey or swathy, referring to the greying or blackening the flowers on mechanical damage.
The English vernacular name is Nun's Orchid, referring to the petals white outside and more-or-less dark brown insde, resembling to nun's caps. As shown here a white form of this orchid is also known.

In Europe it was introduced into cultivation in 1788. Its name at times is spelled as P. tancarvilliae and orchid books usually shy away from relating the scandal caused by that spelling in the XVIIIth Century Britain.
(Read the full story in the article titled "The Nun's Orchid').

This species played important role in the development of biology: its dried flowers were used for the drawing by Francis Bauer in 1801 showing plant cells at 200x magnification - for the fist time in the history of biology.

Limodorum tankervilliae
H. Andrews: Botanist's Repository for New and Rare Plants. etc.
London, 1797-1814.