More ruly (is that a word) leafed Stanhopeas

[Rothrock42]

I have a Stan embreei which has really unruly and leggy foliage. The leaf is really long as is the petiole each leaf is 2+ feet and they grown out in all directions. It makes for a very spreading and difficult plant to wrangle -- I grow it in my house and need to take it to the sink for watering.

On the other hand I have a Stan tigrina which has a much more compact growth with much shorter stems and leaves -- it is more mature than the embreei so I know it isn't just because it is young. Over all I would say each leaf is maybe a bit over a foot and they tend to grow more upright and clustered.

I would like to get some more stans but descriptions usually don't describe the growth habit and size of the plant.

Can anyone recommend stans that are known for more compact growth? Or any that I should maybe stay away from?

[WhiteRabbit]

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by Rothrock42

Can anyone recommend stans that are known for more compact growth?

Unfortunately, there's no such thing! I think your experience with the 2 Stan species gives you the range of plant types for the genus.

Sievkingia fimbriata (see recent OB post for pics) is a pretty petite Stan relative; as are the Paphinia.

[Leslie]

I grew a Stanhopea wardii for many years and the leaves were upright and PB tightly clustered. Blooms were deep canary yellow with brown spots, highly fragrant. Maybe try that one?


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[Ray]

The growth habit of a plant might very well be an adaptation intended for a specific purpose - those long, widely-spread leaves sound like a great collector of rainfall and detritus to benefit the plant.

On the other hand, maybe you're simply growing it with insufficient light, and it is leggy.

[Rothrock42]

Stan wardii sounds good, I'll keep an eye out for it.

On the Stan embreei the new growth since I got it from the nursery is certainly a bit shorter. I just don't know if it is because I'm giving it more light or it just isn't mature yet.

[Rothrock42]

Amazing how fate is. I was at a local plant store for completely other reasons and noticed several very large (2 foot across chunks) of what looked like a Stanhopea. They were unlabeled, neither species nor price. I asked about them and they told me they got them from somebody closing up their greenhouse. They had divided the original plant which must have been about 5 feet across.

They didn't know what kind of orchid it was and I told them I thought it was a Stanhopea and a bit about its culture. As a thank you they gave me one of the chunks (the rattiest one, but hey it was free).

I brought it home soaked it and broke it up into 4 chunks each of which has at least 4 or 5 good back bulbs and signs of at least one new growth. Overall they looked like they have fairly compact and upright growth.

[fishmom]

Wow, lucky find! It will be interesting to see how it grows and flowers.