Stanhopea Blooming

[Curtis2010]

Just opening up this AM. Not sure which flavor of Stanhopea, but reasonably certain it is at least a Stanhopea.

[Hugorchids]

Stanhopea saccata! You can label it now!

[glengary54]

I agree with Hugorchids,it's Catasetum saccata, it's kind of hard to confuse this one with others.

[isurus79]

Wow, you must live in a pretty wet place. Growing these guys on a mount requires a lot of water!

[Curtis2010]

Thanks much for the ID ! (Glengary54: I assume you meant to type "Stanhopea" not "Catasetum"?).

Yes, I live in a very wet place (Rio Dulce, Guatemala). Seasons are identified here typically by wet or dry not the usual summer, winter, etc. Wet season is June-November and is just starting to wind down. During wet season we typically have torrential down pours every night....more like waterfalls coming from the sky than rain.

[glengary54]

Curtis - Not surprised that i typed Catasetum instead of Stanhopea, being that they run neck to neck as my most favorite genera.

[Curtis2010]

Yes, thought it must have been a typo, but wanted to make sure -- I am confused enough as it is.

I have naturally occurring Catasetums here too. I think they are "integerrium" and "viridimflavum", but not certain.
Pics attached.

[Curtis2010]

Related note: I have not yet found raw precipitation data for this area, but a few sources state between 80-100 inches per year.

I need to get my weather station back on-line so that I can track this myself...I live in a part of the Rio that gets even more rain than other areas of the Rio due to its proximity to coast line, mountains, and the Rio...sort of sandwiched between them all a relatively narrow section ...so the rain really dumps here as the clouds pile up on the nearby mountain ridge.