More Habenarias

[Roberta]

Habaneria medusae is one of my favorite orchids. The orange lip with the wild fringes are so special.

Habenaria erichmichelii is now classaffied as Hab. rhodocheila, but the color combination - the bronze segments (and leaves) and the salmon-pink lip, are unique.

Habenaria dentata was, at first, a mystery plant... I had ordered two tubers of Hab. carnea. Since I was expecting them to be the same, both tubers went into the same pot. As soon as they sprouted it was obvious that they weren't the same. One is indeed Hab. carnea - with beautiful patterned leaves in a rosette. (just starting to be in spike, it'll be a month or so before it blooms) The other was green, and lanky with a few leaves widely spaced along the stem. That one has bloomed... after discussion with the vendor and looking at a bunch of photos, we both agreen that it is indeed Hab. dentata. An added bit of luck... I had expected Hab. denta to grow cooler than Hab. carnea. Turns out theat they clearly grow under the same conditions - which will greatly improve my chances for keeping it gong. In fact, I got two other tubers that were supposedly Hab. dentata... now that I have one that clear is (not jut flowers but also growth habit of the plant), I can see that the other two are something else. Waiting for flowers to see what I actually got. I'm not unhappy at all, I see the variety as a bonus.(Got the H. carnea that I especially wanted, got H. dentata just not in the pot I expected, and there are 2 more that will be suprises, with growth patterns I don't recognize) Love them all! Included is a photo of Hab. dentata just opening, and Hab. carnea still just showing beautiful leaves, to show the different growth patterns of the two species.