Another mystery plant
 

Just picked up a couple of these today, absolutely no idea what they are:
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Pbulbs are around 2 inches long, slender, smooth and unifoliate. Leaves are thick and firm. Inflorescences emerge from a sheath where the base of the leaf meets the pbulb. They are around 4 to 5 inches long with around 25 tiny (approx 5mm) blooms on each inflorescence. Blooms are a more intense and slightly darker purple than they appear in the photos, and very slightly fragrant.

Any ideas?

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Unfortunately no idea, but I will stay tuned for the answer.

Arpophyllum laxiflorum, probably.

Eastern Mexico into Guatemala, cool growing, Laeliinae.

Gorgeous!

Thank you, PaphMadMan :) From the info I could find on this I understand it needs a lot of light and I shouldn't let the medium dry out, is that correct?

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There's not a lot of info out there, and most of it is for the other 2 widespread species, spicatum and giganteum, but recommended care doesn't seem to be different. BTW, this is definitely not giganteum but could perhaps be spicatum rather than laxiflorum.

Bright light yes, 2000-3000fc. These are mountain cloud forest plants. During winter most moisture is probably from dew, so they don't dry out but aren't soaked. More moisture in summer, but they need perfect drainage. Media gone bad = death, so repot regularly or inorganic media or mount. Cool intermediate temps, probably tolerate daytime heat but must cool off most nights. Pretty similar to many orchids really.

Interesting genus. I've only seem one in person maybe twice. No registered hybrids, inter- or intra-generic.

I haven't seen any Arpophyllums that I recognized. The photos of different Arpophyllum species on IOSPE look almost the same. A. alpinum blooms in spring. A. giganteum blooms late winter through spring and has laterally compressed pseudobulbs. A. laxiflorum blooms in fall and has pseudobulbs round in cross-section. A. spicatum has compressed but several-jointed pseudobulbs, and terete, stiff leaves. I agree with OW that your plant fits A. laxiflorum best.

Each species has a wide distribution, and most probably grows in pine/oak forest as well as cloud forest. It's very possible this is whichever species grows closest to where you live.

Wide distribution means they are probably somewhat more tolerant of winter drying than would be most cloud forest plants. I would not keep it completely dry for very long in the winter, however. I would also agree about providing cool winter nights - some pine/oak forest plants do fine with warmer winter nights, but others die quickly.

Thanks again! They're currently potted up in what looks like pine needle mulch, so they'll be coming straight out of that tomorrow and into fine lava rock (yeah, I'm lazy when it comes to repotting), let's hope the repot doesn't frighten the flowers!

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Thanks, estación seca. Comparing those descriptions with the plants, A. Laxiflorum would seem to hit the mark pretty convincingly. And cool winter nights here won't be a problem - it's the spring and summer that worry me!


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If you repot, I would put some of the pine needle mulch on top of the lava rock. If the plant was harvested in the wild, that might have been its substrate, and the beneficial fungi and bacteria might be in there.

How hot are your summer nights? Are you in a lower-elevation area, foothills or mountains?

My A. alpinum is a summer/fall bloomer, A. giganteum in the spring. A. alpinum is mounted (now growing around the back side of the mount) and A. giganteum is in a basket with minimal media, mostly for containment since it is too big to maintain on a mount. I grown both outside in coastal southern California USA, so for temperature they get whatever Mother Nature throws their way. A. giganteum especially is a hummingbird magnet Roberta's Orchids

IDs seem to be pretty fluid - I'm pretty sure of A. giganteum, it has a distinctly different inflorescence, size and different leaf, but A. alpinum could easily be one of the others.

Ooh, good idea, I hadn't thought of that.

We're inland, at an elevation of around 1600m. Nighttime low temperatures are averaging 16°C right now, but can be as warm as 20 or 21°C on occasions during June and July. Fortunately where we live there's usually a breeze, which helps to make it feel a little cooler.
Daytime temperatures can get up to 35°C on the hottest days in June and July, this is why I've given up trying to keep Miltoniopsis.

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