NOID Angulocaste

[smweaver]

I acquired this plant many years ago when I first started to grow orchids, and I'm sure that it once had an identification tag with it. But I made the unpardonable mistake of misplacing the tag. So now it's simply an unidentified Angulocaste. I do wish that I knew what's in its background. It's a very easy to grow plant, handling hot, humid and wet summers and cool winters equally well (and, perhaps most impressively, it thrived in spite of a terrible amount of abuse from my amateur hands).

It usually blooms in the mid summer with large, long-lasting flowers that are strongly fragrant of vanilla and mint. Growths with huge leaves (close to three feet long by ten to twelve inches wide) mature over the winter, and the plant then (thankfully) sheds its leaves around March. It then enters a dormant state for a few months. Spikes and new growths begin to show around mid to late June.

Steve
NOID Angulocaste on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
NOID Angulocaste on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

[2ljd]

Nice one, whatever it might be!

[Stitzelweller]

obviously, it has mucho Anguloa clowesii. Is that a start at your ID?

[smweaver]

Originally Posted by Stitzelweller

obviously, it has mucho Anguloa clowesii. Is that a start at your ID?

Yes, that helps. I initially discounted Anguloa clowesii because I've read that it's a cool grower. This particular hybrid, if it has clowesii in its genes, must have overcome the cool-growing demands of that species since it (the hybrid) isn't set back in the least by hot summer weather. If I'm mistaken (which is entirely possible) and Anguloa clowesii does not require cool temperatures during the summer, then it's just moved onto my wish list.

[Angurek]

Beautiful. I love the butter yellow color of the flowers.

Does this one have the wintergreen fragrance that most Anguloas have?

[nenella]

Very nice! I really like this one!! thanks for posting.
I haven't got a clue about these does the flower open more than in your photos? would love to see other photos of you have any? thanks.

[Becca]

Wow that is beautiful! I have an Aguloa that I won at my local orchid society raffle about a year or so ago. I don't really know what I am doing with it. All I know is that it is still alive. Just dropped it's leaves (which I didn't think this was the time of year to do) and is putting out a new growth currently. It's slow growing for me, but again, I'm clueless to what I am doing with it. I too thought it was supposed to be a cool grower but it is handeling my intermediate to warm temps. Good luck with id-ing yours!

[smweaver]

Carl, since I've never grown any other Angulocaste (let alone a true Anguloa), I'm not sure how close the scent is to any of the species.

Nenella, the flowers have been open for a few days, so they will open a little wider (although not that much).

Becca, I think that perhaps it's normal for the hybrid Angulocastes to drop their leaves at this time of year. I treat this plant like the deciduous lycaste species (aromatica, cruenta, etc.). I repot it as soon as the new growths appear, keeping as much of the old rootball as possible (many--maybe even most--people remove the old compost, but I'm basically too lazy to deal with that for the lycastes). I water sparingly until the new growths are a few inches tall, at which point a new flush of roots usually starts. After the leads have really started to put on a lot of growth, I water and fertilize the plants heavily (they never dry out completely while they're in full growth). After the pseudobulbs have completed their growth and become hard (for me this is usually around late October to mid November), I start to taper off watering, allowing the compost to dry between waterings. Once the leaves start to yellow, I begin withholding water, allowing the pots to remain dry for a couple of weeks between light waterings. After the leaves fall completely, the plants get abandoned in a cool and dry location until new growths appear the following spring-to-early-summer period (supposedly they need lots of light while they're dormant; however, I haven't noticed anything bad happen to them even though I tend to shove them under benches, where they experience about the same light levels as paphiopedilums). Hope this helps (and sorry for the long-winded response!).

Steve

[PaphMadMan]

Just a shot... Angulocaste Apollo (Anguloa clowesii x Lycaste Imshootiana). You should be able to search for a couple pics for comparison.