Brassavola subulifolia

[RJSquirrel]

has 7 spikes that grew flowers, some only a few flowers.
It smells very nice. Similar to nodosa but different.

Thank you all I have some very nice surprises wanting to bloom

[bethmarie]

I love it

I keep seeing that subulifolia and cordata are synonyms, but the local greenhouse has a subulifolia blooming that has a much smaller lip and thinner sepals and petals than cordata. I'll have to get out there this weekend and take a picture to post. I'd like to hear what you think.

[WhiteRabbit]

Fabulous!

[RJSquirrel]

theres a story on why those 2 plants were so named and they are both subulifolia. The same species plants can have variable traits such as shape and size of the lips and sepals. Often it was just these differences that caused one to believe he/she had discovered a new species. Which was the goal back when orchideering was young was to find a plant no one had. And hence why the cordata was known as such. The plants are endemic to Jamaica and one was found in brazil and then called b. cordata. It was the same species and improperly identified.

[No-Pro-mwa]

It's gorgeous.

[bethmarie]

Thanks for the explanation. I'd love to know how you found it. I researched it some and didn't run across anything enlightening.

Here's the subulifolia/cordata at the greenhouse. It's next to a nodosa 'Susan Fuchs' x 'Largo'.

[PaphMadMan]

You have a beautifully grown plant, and the comparison photo with a well known form of B. nodosa is nice to see.

Originally Posted by RJSquirrel

theres a story on why those 2 plants were so named and they are both subulifolia. The same species plants can have variable traits such as shape and size of the lips and sepals. Often it was just these differences that caused one to believe he/she had discovered a new species. Which was the goal back when orchideering was young was to find a plant no one had. And hence why the cordata was known as such. The plants are endemic to Jamaica and one was found in brazil and then called b. cordata. It was the same species and improperly identified.

Things like that do happen, but that is not quite the case here.

This species, whichever name you know it under, occurs only in the Caribbean. It was apparently given two different names by the same person (Lindley) 5 years apart - Brassavola subulifolia (1831) and Brassavola cordata (1836).

This was probably an honest mistake on his part - simple confusion or the similarities between different specimens not being perfectly obvious when working from dried materials, and individual plants and local forms do vary. He named hundreds of species. He certainly didn't increase his fame or prestige naming one more that particular day.

The first publication was obscure and went unnoticed for the most part. The second publication became widely known and the species was distributed under that name. When the earlier publication was eventually noticed, the rules are clear - the first name given to a species in valid publication is always considered correct. It doesn't matter that a later name had become widely used.

Originally Posted by bethmarie

Thanks for the explanation. I'd love to know how you found it. I researched it some and didn't run across anything enlightening.

The best single source for this kind of information is probably the Internet Orchid Species Photo Encyclopedia - a website easily found with a search. The information there is factually accurate as far as it goes, but remember that current classification and interpretation is constantly changing and never 'official'. At best it is someone's judgement of information available at a particular time.

[Leafmite]

Wow, beautiful!

[RJSquirrel]

together with the remar x mas mejor nodosa.

going to have a bunch of Bc 'little stars' too

they are sized between the larger nodosa and the smaller subulifolia but many flowers like the subulifolia

[RosieC]

Great display of flowers!