Project 2017: Rupicolous Laelias

[Selmo]

Camille, look up Hoffmannseggella, this a genus that the rupiculous lealia where put in based on where they grew/what they grew on, rather than actual plant structure and morphology. There are about 40 lealia that where listed under Hoffmannseggella, which are now back under lealia, which, I believe now is under cattleya



To add to this: don't forget about IOSPE (internet orchid species photo encyclopaedia) it is a good reference for cultural and general information on all types of species of orchids

[No-Pro-mwa]

Originally Posted by Selmo

Shannon, as to your answer to Cattleya (Sophrolaeliocattleya-Slc.) Kagaribi Dawn 'Red Star' it's linage. It goes as this:

Complex hybrid

Started 1898 between Cat. Intermediate X Cat. Cinnabarina ( the rupiculous one) which produced Cat. Amelia. Then it was was crossed in 1987 with Cat. Kagaribi X Cat. Tropic Dawn yielding what we have today Slc. Kagaribi Dawn 'Red Star'.

We have had this one for a few years now, has been a good proformer. Blooms in spring, March-April, for us. Has not been to picky as to environment, and conditions. High light, high temps, high humidity. Is a real trooper.

It has kept the flower form and style of cattleya (lealia) cinnabarina. Photo not the best to show form. But the color is very vivid red with an orange under petal, very stunning. Good choice, welcome to to project, best of luck with both choices

Thanks so much. It seems funny that the shape has held on like it has. But I sure did think it looked like it had something like that in it. It sure is red. So if I can get dear hubby to help me down load pictures I will post. This computer has been acting up as of late.

[Selmo]

Hope everyone that has and is being effected by all the hurricanes, earthquakes, and crazy weather is safe and out of harms way. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all.


It has been six weeks since we last updated and things are progressing well. The L. crispata (I still call it flava) ( photo 1) has grown a sheath on both new growths and is matureing wonderfully. Hopeful that one will give us blooms this year in spring. The L. gloedeniana (photo 2) has grown two new leaf buds, bringing the total to threel new leaves this year, hopefully. In photo 2 you can see the two new leaf buds starting to grow. The older new leaf can be seen left of the twisty tie. It seems to to be maturing will too, but it doesn’t look like a bloom this year (no sheath yet). Sorry for the side ways photos, sometimes it puts them in right, sometimes sideways, you never know.

[Leucadian]

Originally Posted by camille1585

I don't know much about rupiculous Laelias, and have a hard time finding a list of them. I already placed an order 2 weeks ago, but they didn't have any Laelias. Not I found another vendor which has these which seem to be rupiculous. Can someone tell me?

L. milleri
L. mixta
L. lundii
L. harpophylla
L. flava
L. xanthina

I am not an authority, so I hesitate to comment here. I found a paper which lists lots of the orchids which I have heard referred to as rupicolous, plus a lot more, under the category C. parviflorae. See the key on p77 and the list on page 80 in the link below. I think that these were also proposed as genus Hoffmannseggella. I don't know what the current thinking is on these classifications. I think Andy's sells all of the plants on your list as rupics.

Plants mostly rupicolous or terrestrial with cylindrical or subcylindrical pseudobulbs or epiphytic plants with long, slender pseudobulbs
and flowers generally less that 6 cm: series Parviflorae


http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc...=rep1&type=pdf

[wintergirl]

Update on my L.lucasiana 'Exotic Orchids' x self (C. longipes). It is on a Kool-log. I have a lot of new root growth.

DSCN2525.jpg

[Cheddarbob14]

The new growth on mime has doubled in size in about 2 weeks, every bit of 4" long now

[No-Pro-mwa]

What a cute little plant that is wintergirl.

[Salixx]

Unfortunately, my colnagoi is not looking the best these days. I think I gave it too much sun, so it's getting a bit of a shadier rest and hopefully I will see improvement. My other, non-project rupies are doing better.

I've noticed a lot of talk about how many species grow with their roots deep down in rock cravaces where they might be very moist nearly all the time for part of the year. I am considering experimenting with a species that does not have a dry rest in S/H. Anybody have any thoughts on this?

[estación seca]

"Lithophytic" is not as precise a term as "epiphytic", for reasons I will get into below. Not many plants actually grow on hot, bare rock. A few Mesoamerican cacti do, such as Cryptocereus (now Selenicereus) anthonyanus.

I would do some careful research and look at some good habitat photos of exactly the species in which you are interested. Look for photos showing the entire hillside, not just those coned down on the plant.

Some "lithophytes" grow in thin pads of decomposing organic matter and rock dust on sloping bare rock. Granite and sandstone, especially, form smooth rock domes like this. The organic matter accumulates around irregularities in the rock surface, like leaf mold building up at the crack in a sidewalk. Roots extend only to the edge of the pad of organic matter, which often has moss growing on top. If roots grew past the pad they would dry up and cook, rapidly. As more plants grow on the pad, there are more things that trap more and more leaf litter, and the pads can extend to many feet / over a meter across. Nevertheless, the organic pad is seldom more than 2" / 5cm thick.

These areas typically get lots of summer rain. The organic pads stay moist and never dry out. The roots are close to the air, though. In winter some areas like this are completely dry with no dew whatsoever, and the mosses and ferns in the pads dry up and turn brown. In other areas there is always a little dew so the roots never dry completely.

Lots of "lithophytic" orchids worldwide grow like this. I saw what were probably Jumellea orchids in Madagascar growing like this, together with an upright bundle-of-sticks Cynanchum (a milkweed, Asclepiadaceae.) There will be lots of other plants in these organic matter pads. I have also seen this ecological niche in México, Brasíl and Perú. In Brasíl plants growing like this include: Cacti Coleocephalocereus (including all the former Buiningea now called Coleos), some Melocactus, some Pilosocereus and some Uebelmannia; many bromeliads, including most Bromelia and Encholirion; some gesneriads (tuberous Sinningia) and some amaryllids (some Hippeastrum.) Many Ceiba species (was Bombacaceae, now Malvaceae) specialize in this habitat, with enormous roots snaking over bare rock between pockets of humus.

In México in this niche I've seen some Agave species that like moisture more than sister species in the adjacent desert soil; many Mammillaria cacti; most Echeveria, Sedum and Villadia (these 3 are Crassulaceae); and some Brahea palm species.

In Perú this niche shelters many Peperomia, various Sedum and Echeveria, and many Matucana cactus species.

Other "lithophytic" orchids grow on top of flat benches in gravel as I mentioned before. These stay soggy wet much longer than plants in organic pads on sloping rock domes, sometimes standing in rain for days to weeks. They have a long dry winter as well, but it probably takes a lot longer to dry the soil completely than the ones growing on sloping rocks. I haven't seen this niche except in Brasíl, but I would be surprised if it doesn't occur elsewhere.

All the places I've seen with the above two ecological niches have cool to cold winter nights, though not with significant frost. I don't think plants growing like this could survive warm and dry winters.

Another "lithophytic" niche occurs in tropical limestone, or other rock that forms fist-sized pockets as it weathers, with openings mostly up to the rain falling. There is a dark grey limestone formation in the tropics worldwide that weathers like this, with very sharp edges. It is called bambuí in Brasíl, tsingy in Madagascar, and also occurs in Thailand and México. Round pockets form as the rock erodes over ages. The pockets hold water, but it drains out over hours to days. Leaf litter or sand accumulates in these pockets. Plants can grow in these pockets. I have seen this rock formation in Brasíl, Madagascar and México, but haven't noticed orchids there. From my reading Mexipedium xerophyticum may come from this formation in Oaxaca.

[SaraJean]

Fall update for the L. gloedeniana

Fall is here, though the temps are still warm, days are still in the mid to upper 70s F, and nights are still in the mid to upper 60s F. Next week we are expecting a cold front that will push us into the 60s during the day and 50s at night. Humidity is still holding steady at between 50%-80%. This should continue throughout most of the fall though we can have a few days in the 30% range here and there. Humidity is not really too much of a concern for my location, lol

We have a sheath! I really hope there are buds in it, but I am taking this as a positive sign that one of my two new growths tossed this out.

I also have two more new growths starting. I am staring to reduce water and fertilizer, but I am thinking that I will not cut back too much more in order to give these two new ones a chance to mature. I’ll keep an eye on it. My thoughts have always been- if it’s growing, it needs feedin. Is this still correct with rupics?
Edit: to be a little more precise, up until now it has been getting watered every day. It was easily drying out by the end of the day in the summertime heat. The fertilizer concentration i use is about 35-50ppm N per, and I make sure to do a clean water flush once per week. Now, with it being cooler, I have cut back my watering to every 3 days. I am still watering with same concentration of fertilizer just with less frequency.

Also, with it getting latter in the season, I need to bump up my light. The courtyard is not getting nearly as much light since the sun is now hanging so low in the sky and is not nearly as intense as it was a month ago. I am going to put this up on the balcony where it is much brighter for longer periods of time. Hopefully the color of the leaves will improve and get back to having that nice purple/red pigmentation.