Identification Help

[Planetarymonkey]

Aloha y'all
I have an orchid I have seen grown almost like a "weed" here in Hawaii. They bloom both orange and red as far as I have seen.
I found it in abundance in an overgrown area of the house I rent in Hilo, Hawaii.
I need help identifying it so I can put it in a better place for growing.
Attached are the flower photos.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

It is not native to Hawaii. It is a some sort of Epidendrum. Probably not even a species either. Most likely some sort of hybrid.

[Planetarymonkey]

there is no doubt its NON-native. Its growing wild because a previous tenant planted/forgot it years ago and now it is growing wild and untended.

Thanks for the ID help

[EmoryG]

Aloha!

There are a few naturalized (not native but are growing wild) orchids in Hawaii, some of them growing a bit weedy. It's possible that yours is Epidendrum x o’brienianum. The flowers can be red or orange and is a widespread escaped orchid.

Sounds like it's happy in it's current growing place, so if you want to spread it around, just put the keiki (rooted off shoots) into similar conditions or pot some up. I've found that they like a lot of sun and good drainage.

In Hawaii we have to be careful about spreading invasive species, but the naturalized orchids, although not native, tend to play fairly nice with our native flora.

A hui hou

[Dollythehun]

It's a reed stem Epidendrum. Epidendrum radicans. Native to South America.

[Optimist]

Originally Posted by EmoryG

Aloha!

...but the naturalized orchids, although not native, tend to play fairly nice with our native flora.

A hui hou

Is there a gardening extension program, local orchid society, or some other information distributor that Hawaiian citizens could contact to find which are invasive, which are naturalized, which are native? That might be helpful information.

[EmoryG]

Good call on Epidendrum radicans. I had pulled the other name from a 2012 report of potential invasive orchids in Hawaii done by CTAHR (College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources), it never mentioned E. radicans, but that does look more likely, and possibly more aggressive.

As far as orchids growing wild in the wild, the ones that most people see, they are all introduced. There're a few native species, but at this point they are rare and hard to find (nor popular in horticultural).

I would expect there's an orchid society in Hilo, they would be a great resource for you.