Is this an orchid?

[Tom Tomorrow]

This small plant is growing in full, hot, blazing sun, on the side of a palm tree, in the foothills of west coastal Mexico, north of Puerto Vallarta.

Is this an orchid? What sort?

Our summer rains will start in a month or so. If this plant is inclined to bloom, will it bloom when the rains start?

The top leaf is about 5cm long and has more texture than the one underneath.

I have larger versions of this image which I can send to anyone who wants to help.

Thanks
Tom

[Ray]

We need a better photo, but whatever it is, it looks dead to me.

[camille1585]

Do you have a close up photo of whatever that is? I don't know if a larger version of that pic would be much better.

[Bud]

it looks like a small miniature plant clinging on a large tree...and its hard to identify this without the flowers...

[Tom Tomorrow]

Here's an enlargement of the central, leafy part.

Under the leaf is a small cluster of rhysomes (I think). This plant is growing on the surface of the palm.

Because it is a small plant, I initially thought it must be a young plant. But back home, zooming in on some of the roots that are spread out, I can note that some of the roots have places where lichen is growing on them, matching the lichen underneath that is growing on the palm.

So I am guessing that this is a very slow growing plant.

One poster thought this looked like a dead or dying plant. It does not look unhealthy to me.

The roots are white and crisp looking, holding on tenaciously to the rough surface and tightly following the uneven surface.

The top, freshest looking leaf is a muddy purple and green color. I have read on the internet that the leaves of some varieties of orchid turn reddish, as a defense against intense sunlight.

And as I said, this plant is totally exposed to a very hot, harsh, and direct sun.

I understand that it is not easy to identify an orchid species without a bloom. But I was in hopes that showing enough of the growth form of this plant would be enough to judge if it is indeed an orchid or something else.

I guess I would be surprised if I learned that a plant in question needed to have a bloom in order to know if it is an orchid or not.

This plant was found in an area with many bromeliads, air plants, and other plants that I have always guessed were orchids... mostly a vining sort. But the ones that I have guessed to be orchids, I have never seen in bloom. But they all have this spreading surface root characteristic.

Thanks for your interest.

Tom

[let_it_grow]

That thing is pretty cool looking. The roots and leaf shape reminds me of a phal but I'm not familiar with any phals that like that much light, usually the leaf would be burnt to a crisp. I have had catts, plals, vandas, dens and oncidiums show the reddish tint when exposed to lots of light. It's not like when you burn the plants leaves and they are damaged. In my experience it happens when I increase the light intensity and they don't have time to adjust. None of my "blushing" chids have had leaf damage from the light change tho. This coloring on the other hand looks less like a reaction to the light than an adaptation of the plant because it seems to be growing out that colour, rather than turning that colour. It reminds me of other succulent plants that grow in dry temperatures with lots of light. They can properly photosynthesize without high levels of chlorophyll In the leaves so they would not have the green coloration characterized by plants that don't have sun as readily available. This doesn't answer your question at all but I would be very interested to know what this plant is and what her flowers look like. I can say that she is not dead, the larger leaf looks new, the color seems to be natural for the plant, the roots look healthy and I see a hint of green on them telling me she can photosynthesize through her roots as well. If you have an opportunity to monitor this little girl regularly please keep me posted on her progress.

[lambelkip]

it is an orchid, and it is alive, but an exact ID will not be possible without seeing the blooms.

[BruceP]

Hard to tell, but it is reminiscent of Nageliella purpurea.

[RosieC]

I think it's an orchid. The roots look like orchid roots, the leaf reminds me of my bulbophylum although it could be any of the sort that form bulbs and slightly thicker leaves (thicker than say an Oncidium).

[Gage]

I say definitely an orchid. Reminds me of the mule ear Oncidiums.