Encyclia chimborazoensis bloom
 

I’ve had this for a few years and it has consistently bloomed a couple times a year for me. Interesting little flowers, the lip reminds me of a sea shell. The growth habit could best be described as rangey, but it always seems to be putting out new growths.

Nice! Do these have a nice fragrance?

Cool! Never heard of it!

I have heard of Mt. Chimborazo though! Highest mountain in Ecuador I'm pretty sure (and that's saying something). Must be from there!

The best thing you can do to reduce the rangyness is to grow the plant in the highest light it can handle. It is probably just a lanky species though so it may not help that much

It has a very light fragrance that I would describe as gardenia like.

---------- Post added at 10:14 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:08 PM ----------

I have this growing with most of my Cattleya, although with the dark green leaves, I think it can handle more light than it’s getting. From my research, it suggests this grows in bushes in an exceedingly humid area, so it would probably look it’s best mounted; however my growing conditions don’t lend themselves to that kind of culture.

so this is a pretty flower but it now adds a third to the "almost identical group" of
prosthechea fragrans and pros radiata. they are so similar to me that i often have to follow the ramble of pbulbs back to the pot just to tell which it is.


nice growing

Thank you!

I’d love to climb into the taxonomists’ mind that classified these three… P. radiata stayed in Prosthechea, the other two went to Encyclia….and you’re right, the difference is almost imperceptible!

I also have a similar Encyclia from Andy. Enc. sima has a wonderful fragrance, long lasting blooms and a bit more compact growing tho not a small plant. :biggrin:

I had only seen this species referred to once before as a primary hybrid with a reed-stem epidendrum. (I want to say it was E. radicans). I had no idea what E. chimborazoensis looked like. Thank you for sharing pix!

My understanding is that Prosthecia has a lip that is fused with the column and Epidendrum and Encyclia do not. Not sure if DNA has come into it yet. I could easily see DNA completely rearranging all that like it did with Dendrochilum.