Cyrtopodium punctatum

[Justin Parkkonen]

I had the opportunity to photograph an area of the Everglades that was absolutely loaded with orchids. We came across dozens of Trichocentrum maculatum, hundreds of Prostechea boothiana and Encyclia tampensis, a few Polystachya concreta and of course, Cyrtopodium punctatum.

Most of the Trichocentrum had huge flower spikes, but the spikes withered around the top due to the fly that lays its eggs in the spike. I was really hoping to find one the fly missed, I have wanted to see these in flower forever!

The Prostechea are going to be even more prolific judging by all of the seed pods. There were already some seed pods on the Cyrtopodium as well! And of course the Polystachya and Encyclia were loaded with seed pods.

The show stopper was this massive and quite famous cigar:



A close up (which you should full view):



My favorite shot from the day:



And the last one for today:



I'm going to work on some more shots and will eventually post them on my flickr account (Flickr: Justin E. Parkkonen's Photostream).

[flhiker]

Very very nice Justin. I'm aware of that plant. Never seen it in person. I'm searching an area I have never been and found a single tree with 3 large ghost, 2 with single spikes, and 1 with a double spike. also there was 12 smaller ones all one one tree. Looks like we both had a great day.

[Ghost Hunter]

Flhiker,

Awesome tree with all those ghosts. 12+ on one tree is certainly a rarity and a secret worth keeping. I know of one tree that has 6 large adult plants on it all of which had multiple blooms on it last year. I go out every weekend to check up on them and they are all showing multiple spikes again for this year.

Sat. I found a new group of ghosts(new to me at least) and 3 of them appeared to be extremely old plants with massive root growth......I'd expect to see multiple blooms on them this year although none had spikes yet.

Is that Cigar out in Fakahatchee? I've wanted to photograph this species but haven't found one yet. The search continues. . . .

[Justin Parkkonen]

Dave,

Awesome find! You will have to let me tag along this year!

Ghost Hunter,

It is in Everglades National Park. I think there are only 12 known in the Fakahatchee so it is far less common there. I've never run across one there.

[flhiker]

Originally Posted by Justin Parkkonen

Dave,

Awesome find! You will have to let me tag along this year!

Welcome as always.

[stefpix]

Cyrtopodium is ome of my favorite orchids at the Brooklyn Botcanic Garden. It looks so sculptural. never seen it in bloom. Is it common in FL? Do people in FL cultivate it in their gardens? Any sources to buy? Anyway nice photos

The flowers are great too,

[RosieC]

Wow, I love that first pic... what a great orchid mount! And even better as it's wild!

[Boxster01]

I have a C. Punctatum that is about 4 or 5 years old. It is getting bigger every year but I have yet to see it bloom. Are any of you familiar with its care requirements?

[flhiker]

Originally Posted by Boxster01

I have a C. Punctatum that is about 4 or 5 years old. It is getting bigger every year but I have yet to see it bloom. Are any of you familiar with its care requirements?

I can tell you that they live in varying conditions in the wild. Both in full sun and in shade. Just give it high humidity. As they are native to sub tropical and tropical climate's.

[Bluecrab]

I did a Google search and couldn't find images of that one at the Brooklyn garden. Hopefully you can post a pic at some point. Thanks

---------- Post added at 07:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:29 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Boxster01

I have a C. Punctatum that is about 4 or 5 years old. It is getting bigger every year but I have yet to see it bloom. Are any of you familiar with its care requirements?

This looks like an old thread, but just recently on a Cyrtopodium quest...:Regarding culture, and flowering questions, I have watched a bunch of Stephen Van Kampen-Lewis's vids on Youtube, and he has some great info on giving them almost full sun, and a winter rest. I can only guess that at your latitude the intensity isn't enough? The pics above of that old C. punctatum that was in the Everglades was getting full S. Fla sun, and full humidity. That's the largest specimen I think I ever saw. By the looks of her, she was getting what makes them fat & happy!...and throw lots of flowers...