Peristeria elata (Dove Orchid)
 

Presenting in my thread:
The ‘Dove Orchid’, ‘Holy Ghost Orchid’ or Peristeria elata. This orchid is native to South America from Panama, through Ecuador all the way to Colombia….this can be found growing near the edge of hardwood forests, as these hardwood forest trees lose their leaves in the fall, the Peristerias are exposed to full sun throughout the dry, cool winter. I read that having good, bright light during the rest period is especially beneficial to flowering. This is the national flower of Panama and a protected endangered species. So...NEVER purchase orchid specimens taken from the "wild"….
When the plant is in active growth in the warm months, I water liberally and feed it weakly weekly fertilizer outdoors on my fire escape. The emerging new keikis grow very rapidly during this time. Peristerias need an orchid mix that will drain freely, but enjoy a tight fit in their pot. A mix that allows stagnating at the roots will be quite a problem. Use a mix that will allow you to water at least four to five times a week in the heat of summer, supplying fresh water to the roots on a steady flow. I have repotted this last spring on a ten inches tall by 12 inches diameter porcelain pot on medium bark mix, lava rock, coco chips, sponge rock, charcoal and tree fern shards.
I give this plant intermediate to warm temps but on winter days in the mid-70s and nights never below 60F. And maintain at least 50% or higher in the humidifier with attached oscillating fan. In the warm summer months this is outside in direct sunlight from dawn to 11am then it is shaded by the neighboring buildings and then gets direct sun by 4pm to dusk. In the winter it is placed on the south facing bay window getting even longer daylight than in summer.
The roots are hairy like a Paphiopedilum but elata needs moisture at all times except in winter rest yet be careful: overwatering can cause several problems such as root rot and infectious bacteria/fungus in the potting medium even if like to maintain pseudo bulbs to be plump, round, and full; if they start shriveling during winter rest=I spray it a bit….I try to mimic the dry season by waiting it to dry in between watering for the rest period. I wait until the flowers are spent and the mature leaves fall or else I start winter rest from the end of November through mid to late January.
Flowering season is usually late spring so I don’t know why this flowered early for me. I was worried about the dirty dark sandy spotting of the outer petals but I looked at the pictures of this flower and they all have that dirty black sandblastings outside of the flowers including the stems. The spikes can reach up to nearly 3 feet in height(mine is only 2 feet but my longest leaf is 4 feet and my longest bulb is eight inches=this can be a dauntingly large plant) with up to 27 wonderful thick waxy white flowers with a dove inside that has purple spots on its tail (on the flower lip). The flowers are long lasting (2-3 months) and are extremely fragrant like a heady classy expensive designer perfume bottle.
I got this specimen plant from an orchid farm in Connecticut three years ago….other species of Peristeria include a beautiful bright red species, Peristeria guttata. There are more or less 22 species in this genus but all of them are quite rare in cultivation. The few plants I found that are for sale on the internet are quite expensive since like my orchid plant=it is in the list of endangered species.

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5510/1...85428d7564.jpg

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5324/1...f71d6dba25.jpg

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3722/1...5b7fa21737.jpg

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5330/1...49dbb8243b.jpg

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5457/1...7dc7764b9c.jpg

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3774/1...34e33264ac.jpg

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3714/1...1f283147f1.jpg

mine is a baby compared to your monster, very very nice. I thought they only needed a partial winter rest?

Thank You for the visit and your kind words....
*yeppers...they need partial that's why I said I only water when it gets dry ....from every three days watering to just a weekly regimen...or wait til the media mix dries out
I saw the pictures of your elata...it is blooming sized....you might get a flower this spring.

Wahoo that will be awesome. I thought it would need to be as large as yours to bloom. Lol. Okay after re reading I see what you were saying.

Also kawamoto orchids sells these on their site. But I feel they are clones. Def. Not wild harvested for those interested.

reputable growers and farms have developed these orchid from seedlings or from very old heirloom plants that they were able to procure way before these were declared extinct in the wilds. The plants gathered by orchid collectors in the 1800's when there were still plants in abundance that have travelled to Europe and were cultivated.

Whoa. That is very cool. Also a caveat may be that one should not buy ANY wild harvested orchids. Since from what I have been told is that they usually have a symbiotic relationship with their environment. That we would not most likely be able to reproduce

Today, there are still many 'poachers' and they still gather in the wilds....just as there are still many who slash/burn part of the forest just to have a quick buck to tide over their hunger....its sad....

Fabulous, Bud.

I have read that the reasons, why populations diminished are
1. Overcollecting the flowers by natives for ceremonial decoration
2. Construction of a dam project in its main natural habitat.
It is not overcollection and export for orchid enthusiasts. And so putting this plant on Cites Appendix 1 is nonsense and would only raise avidness.
For several reasons it is always better to look for an artificially propagated and well established plant, and these are on the market.

Thanks, Bud, for your particularized growing description. How big is the flowering bulb ?

Carter and holmes say soft ball sized mine is probably 3-5 inches tall and 3 inches thick. The main pseudobulb anyways.

---------- Post added at 07:21 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:20 AM ----------

And bud says its bloom size...