Stanhopea oculata or dodsoniana ?

[Gwallogwyn]

I bought this as oculata in Oct. 1998 from Hooser Orchids. After thirteen years it has finally bloomed. It looks different and smells different than my other oculatas. The fragrance is a combination of pine, mint, and chocolate and the background color is a light yellow buff. Stanhopeas oculata, dodsoniana, and whittenii are all quite simular in appearance. To me this plant looks like dodsoniana. I'm not shure what it is.

[FairyInTheFlowers]

OMG!!! I am no Stan expert, so I can't really help. But those flowers look SUPER cool, and the fragrance discription sounds heavenly!

[glengary54]

Gwallogwyn - The differences are too slight for my novice eye but here is contact info for four of the leading experts on Stanhopea:

Nina Rach
The Stanhopea Pages by Nina Rach, edited January 2010

Doug Pulley, MD
Doug Pulley, M.D. Orchids - Home

Kelvin Bush
contact bush orchids

Paul Mitchell
stanhopi@aol.com

I'm sure if you send close-ups of the structure of your plant from all angles, one of the four will be able to identify it for you. Good luck.

[Gwallogwyn]

Originally Posted by glengary54

Gwallogwyn - The differences are too slight for my novice eye but here is contact info for four of the leading experts on Stanhopea:

Nina Rach
The Stanhopea Pages by Nina Rach, edited January 2010

Doug Pulley, MD
Doug Pulley, M.D. Orchids - Home

Kelvin Bush
contact bush orchids

Paul Mitchell
stanhopi@aol.com

I'm sure if you send close-ups of the structure of your plant from all angles, one of the four will be able to identify it for you. Good luck.

There are only three stanhopea experts I respect, Dr.Rudolf Jenny, Dr.Gunter Gerlach and Dr.Calaway Dodson.
After checking Dr.Gerlach web site I believe what I have is Stan. dodsoniana.
Botanical Garden Munich - Dr. Gerlach - The Subtribe Stanhopeinae - RBO

[Merlyn]

WOW, GREAT FLOWERS !!! Great pix also !

[smweaver]

Great-looking blooms. Hopefully it is Stan. dodsoniana, since that's definitely rare, especially compared to oculata. And if you got it from Hoosier's, chances are it could be dodsoniana anyway. They had a wonderful habit of finding tags on the floor and sticking them into the pots of seedlings that happened to be in the area where the lost tags were found. Good luck with positively identifying this one.

[isurus79]

Absolutely stunning flowers!! The spots have taken over this one and the scent description sounds amazing! Hopefully this one makes up for your mislabeled ecornuta hybrid!