Dendrobium Illusion #2

This hybrid of Dendrobium cuthbertsonii, a tiny species, and Dendrobium lawesii, a large cane-type species, is much easier to grow than either of the two parents, and is almost always in bloom, though the largest flush of flowers comes in the autumn. One plus is that the flowers last for many months and so the plant is rarely without blooms.

http://orchidsinbloom-ron.blogspot.com/2010/07/dendrobium-illusion.html

Dendrobium violaceum

Dendrobium violaceum is a variable species both in flower color and plant size.  This particular example is very large and has flowers that are also larger than some of the other plants of this species I own.  In this case the plant is 30 cm tall, one of the largest plants I have, and the flowers are 3.5 cm.  The plant comes from Papua New Guinea and the name violaceum refers to the color of the flowers.  These flowers opened not violet but pink and faded to the color seen in the photos.

Trisetella hoeijeri

I've posted a description of this species before (see below), but it is in bloom once again with more flowers than ever, so I thought I'd post a few more pictures.  The plant is tiny, only a few centimeters tall, with bird-like flowers that dwarf the plant.

http://orchidsinbloom-ron.blogspot.com/2011/06/trisetella-hoeijeri.html

Effusiella amparoana

This charming species, one of my favorite orchids, was formerly classified as Pleurothallis amparoana.  By any name its flowers are some of the most curious in the orchid family, looking like little hairy toilet bowls.  I've previously posted pictures and a description of this species, but since it is blooming once again and has more flowers than ever, I thought I'd post it again.

The previous post can be found here: http://orchidsinbloom-ron.blogspot.com/2010/07/effusiella-amparoana.html

Lepanthes nycteris

Lepanthes nycteris is from Bolivia and Peru and belongs to a group of orchids whose flowers are mostly small but very unusual, very complex and often very colorful.  A previous blog post shows a large number of these flowers (see below).  In this case the rather strange flowers are named after a family of bats, the Slit-faced Bats, or Nycteridae.

The plant is 6-7 cm and the flowers a little over 2 cm tall.  The plant has oval leaves on thin, wiry stems and the flowers come in succession on thin dangling spikes.  For this reason the plant is better grown mounted, and mine is on a thin piece of cork bark.  Since it comes from high altitude cloud forest, it should be grown cool and moist and prefers quite low light.

For more information on the genus Lepanthes see this post:
http://orchidsinbloom-ron.blogspot.com/2011/08/lepanthes-jewels-of-orchid-world.html

Neocogniauxia monophylla

 I've posted this species before, but this year it is blooming on three new growths and I thought I'd post it once again.  It is quite slow growing, but blooms faithfully in the autumn on each new growth.  The species is from Jamaica and is grown mounted on a piece of branch, now covered with moss.  It is kept with my cool-growing orchids and watered every day, sometimes twice a day, with a very weak fertilizer solution, though that is occasionally interchanged with plain water.

http://orchidsinbloom-ron.blogspot.com/2010/08/neocogniauxia-monophylla.html

Epidendrum escobarianum

This amazing plant is in bloom once again, this time with more flowers than it has ever had before.  The plant is notable for its beautifully patterned foliage and for the size of its flowers which are 6 cm on an 8 cm plant.  The plant is from Ecuador and the previous post can be found here: http://orchidsinbloom-ron.blogspot.com/2011/03/epidendrum-escobarianum.html.

Dendrobium cuthbertsonii

Dendrobium cuthbertsonii is an orchid that I have posted before:
http://orchidsinbloom-ron.blogspot.com/2011/07/dendrobium-cuthbertsonii-bicolor.html
http://orchidsinbloom-ron.blogspot.com/2011/03/dendrobium-cuthbertsonii.html
http://orchidsinbloom-ron.blogspot.com/2010/12/dendrobium-cuthbertsonii-var-semi-alba.html

It is one of my favorite miniature orchids and one that comes in many color forms, as the previous posts show, so here is another plant in bloom for the first time.