Florida Native Orchids: another species to search for in the Evergaldes?

[mremensnyder]

Good evening,

It has been quite a while since I've posted. I really enjoy growing native orchids as well as more challenging ones from cool to warm growing I may have discussed on here before that one of my primary collecting goals is to eventually collect every epiphytic orchid species native (or introduced/ questionable in origin) to the state of FL. Through eBay and some other online orchid vendors I have all but 10 or so of the orchids on the list. This number will be 7-8 once I add Encyclia boothiana and Ionopsis uticularoides in the next month or two.

I also generally collect leafless orchids, three of which overlap with the FL native species list. I have managed to purchase all three of these and my collection is doing well overall over the past year, with a few failures along the way. My leafless collection includes Taeniophyllum obtusum barely hanging on as three seedlings attached to a cedar shingle. I think at least one is growing and will survive. I also have a Taeniophyllum biocellatum var. hainense on an identical mount that is doing quite well, in addition to my Microcoelia exilis, which has thrived in my care for about a year now. My Dendro. lindenii from Orchids Limited has been attached to a large, thick piece of live oak bark and seems to like its home with the others in an extra large Tupperware tub with the others, though in the past year, its circumference has not increased much. These are slow! I was extremely excited to finally find a Campylocentrum pacchyrrhizum online, a small plant now also on a live oak bark mount. My Dendro. funalis is much larger and has been seemingly dormant for months now, though I anticipate growth with begin with summer heat and rain.

Some of my newer acquisitions include Maxillaria crassifolia and M. parviflora, several epidendrums native to FL, including E. rigida, E. amphistomum, E. floridense and E. nocturnum. Also in my collection are Encyclia pygmaea, E. cochleata, Brassia caudata, Bulb. pacchyrachis, Pleuro. gelida and both Trichocentrum cathagenense and T. undulatum. I need to replace my Macradenia lutescens, as I lost it to fungus late last fall). There are a few others as well. (pics to follow tomorrow). The toughest to find will of course be Epi. acunae, Lepanthopsis melanantha, and Epi. stobiliferum. Haven't ever seen these for sale, but they are native to other areas of tropical America, so eventually they may show up in cultivation.

Does anybody else have a collection of FL natives to share? Has anybody actually completed such a collection?

I also wanted to mention Restrepiella ophiocephala, a pleurothallid that is mentioned as occurring in S. FL by several sources online. I first noticed this in a 1985 article mentioning Florida's 3 pleurothallid species. Sure, enough orchidspecies.com and wiki name this as a FL native. Yet, I never read about this species among those searched for (specifically OrchidBoard) during trips to the Fakahatchee or other wilds of S. FL. Maybe this is yet another species to locate and further document as a FL native, for conservation efforts?

I forgot to add Leochilus labiatus as a possible species lurking deep in the Everglades (as eluded to in a response to a previous thread). Thoughts on this one?

[ula]

Hi, sounds like you have your hands full! Please, do post pictures of your wonderful collection, I'd love to feast my eyes upon it . I only have one orchid that aspires to be a FL native (Enc. tampensis cross) and I absolutely love it.

[IncurablePlantHead]

Maybe I missed it in your above list, but I will suggest that Encyclia ruffa is considered by some to be a Florida native. I have a specimen which is a seedling of a plant collected, back in the day, from the Florida Keys. It was apparently growing at the base of a native palm, Thrinax morisii. Also, it was not a lone plant in the area. My specimen is also happily growing at the base of the same palm species in a native garden (currently sporting a three foot spike with many buds).

[mremensnyder]

Ula,

Encyclia tampensis was the first FL native orchid I ever grew and it actually grows in some areas around the Orlando area (roughly Orlando south in the hardwood hammocks usually on live oak). I would love to see photos of your hybrid.

IncurablePlantHead, I just added Encyclia rufa to my "master FL native list" as it has every bit a right to be on there as species such as Tetramicra canaliculata, Cyrtopodium polyphyllum and Trichocentrum carthaganense. It was apparently collected once in Brevard County, so there is at least a possibility of it having been native to FL before man's influence and later extirpated. I will have to buy this one, when I find a reasonably priced plant.

Okay, here are some pictures of my collection, taken on my smart phone. Just keep in mind that I am no photographer so I apologize in advance for the poor quality! Also, the species in question are so-called botanical species rather than showy Cattleyas and Vandas, etc. and are not currently flowering.

My first photo (if it actually attaches?) is of my Oncidium floridanum with a Catopsis berteroniana hanging down from it.

[mremensnyder]

Here is my little Campy. pacchyrrhizum. A little guy, but seemingly happy growing on its live oak bark slab. I have been experimenting (carefully) with how much sunlight to give it.

[mremensnyder]

Oncidium floridanum growing in bright sunlight with a healthy Catopsis berteroniana I purchased last year all the way from Holland (of all places).

[mremensnyder]

A huge Maxillaria crassifolia from Andy's that I recently divided into two growing on separate mounts, with a small, barely visible Epidendrum magnoliae hanging in the middle. E. magnoliae seems to be more common from Orlando north, picking up in hardwood forests where Encyclia tampensis can no longer survive (due to freezes). For example, I have commonly seen E. magnoliae at both Wekiva Springs and Blue Springs State Parks (north of Orlando) but never Encyclia tampensis. Whereas, Encyclia tampensis is common in old growth forest in the Orlando area and going south and east of town, yet I haven't observed the magnoliae in these same areas.

[mremensnyder]

My Harisella porrecta, which is found in both South and Central Florida. My plant must have dried out too much at some point, as about a month ago it suddenly lost many of its roots and is down to a few healthy ones. I hope it makes it!

[mremensnyder]

Here is my ghost (Dendrophylax lindenii) growing in its own large Tupperware tub, with Epidendrum rigidum hanging in the top-left of the photo. I hope my ghost orchid extends onto the oak bark this summer.

[mremensnyder]

The first picture is my poor Bulbophyllum pachyrhachis which I saved from the brink by keeping suspended just above water in a deep clear plastic container which has kept it very wet the past few months. This technique has killed other orchids I have tried it on, but ha been successful with the Bulbo, as evidenced by the two new growths emerging.

the second picture is Brassia caudata, a very cold sensitive FL native, also putting on some growth.