Lycaste longipetala - in situ - Ecuador - Orchid Board

Duane McDowell · #1 02-01-2011, 11:03 PM

On an orchid tour with Ecuagenera. The first picture is the back of Gilberto Merino's head - not a great shot, but it gives an idea of the habitat.

Stitzelweller · #2 02-02-2011, 12:29 PM

thank you, Duane.
VERY impressive fotos!

BikerDoc5968 · #3 02-02-2011, 01:19 PM

Beautiful flower, Duane. I'm interested in how you learned about this tour or more details about the trip. I see Ecuagenera is a wholesaler grower, etc. Was this an organized trip through your orchid society? Details please.... Did you/are you allowed to bring back from your visit?

ronaldhanko · #4 02-02-2011, 01:23 PM

Beautiful flowers, Duane, and I, like Howard, am interested in learning more about the trip.

BikerDoc5968 · #5 02-02-2011, 02:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ronaldhanko

Beautiful flowers, Duane, and I, like Howard, am interested in learning more about the trip.

Sounds like a very long road trip in the making!!!!!!

Stitzelweller · #6 02-02-2011, 03:03 PM

FWIW....
I have attempted to grow this species on two separate occasions. I failed. I'm not certain as to why I failed. I have grown similar plants (Lyc fragrans) from the same vendor with success. Of course, that doesn't guarantee my success with THIS species!

Lars Kurth · #7 02-02-2011, 05:30 PM

Fantastic: thanks for posting

Angurek · #8 02-03-2011, 11:34 AM

Beautiful plant.

I think this particular species has been moved to the new genus Sudamerlycaste (formerly Ida).

Stitzelweller · #9 02-03-2011, 12:41 PM

Carl,
I thought that if this is no longer a Lycaste, it would certainly be classified as a Sudamerlycaste.

According to OrchidWiz (certainly, not the final authority!),

Maxillaria longipetala Ruiz & Pav., Syst. Veg. Fl. Peruv. Chil.: 220 (1798).

Duane McDowell · #10 02-03-2011, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ronaldhanko

Beautiful flowers, Duane, and I, like Howard, am interested in learning more about the trip.

Ron and Howard,
I need to get better organized on this - my class work is getting the better of me so far this semester!
Ecuagenera does tours regularly. They were having a custom tour bus built when I was there, so a group can travel in style. They travel to lots of habitat throughout the country, which means cloud forest, coastal forest, Paramo, rain forest, Amazonas, etc... over the course of 10 days.
Ecuagenera also owns three big chunks of land that are set aside specifically as orchid reserves. They are at different elevations, so they are habitat for different plants.
It sounded like they are trying to put a group together for April sometime.
They have several people on staff who guide tours, all of whom are conversant in English and expert in orchids. I went with Gilberto for a one-day trip, and it was great.
As for "finding out about the tour"... For me, it was an internship. I went down on my winter break, photographed plants during the week for them and then went out on the tour on a Saturday. I'll post more pictures when I have time - it was really a great trip.