Masdevallia caudata

Masdevallia caudata is amazing.  The plant is only 8cm but the flowers are 16cm from tip to tip and can be even larger.  Their coloring is also unique and beautiful and very difficult to describe, but the pictures certainly show what I mean.  The name refers to the very long "tails" of the flower, the caudae.  They are 7-8cm long.  The plant is native to Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.  The flowers have a rather strong scent as well, which I find difficult to place but also quite unpleasant.  Someone described the scent as that of artificially flavored raspberry drink, but that does not describe the scent to me.

Dendrobium cuthbertsonii bicolor

This is one of many Dendrobium cuthbertsonii plants I own and one of several with bi-colored flowers.  This one is a smaller plant as this species goes, though they are all tiny, but has larger flowers than some.  It's coloration is similar to another plant I own and which I recently posted, but the color is much more intense. Dendrobium cuthbertsonii is from New Guinea, from high altitudes, and is cool growing.  It has beautiful "pebbled foliage as is evident in some of the photos.

Phalaenopsis violacea var. alba

Once Phalaenopsis violacea begins to bloom, it is seldom out of bloom, since the flower spikes continue to lengthen and produce flowers, usually a few at a time.  The species is from Southeast Asia and is very fragrant, especially when it is warm.  My plant is still quite small but already has two flower spikes.

Masdevallia naevia

Masdevallia naevia belongs to the Caudatae section of the genus Masdevallia, a section that includes some rather awkward-looking flowers of which this is one.  The flowers are beautiful in their own way, but I always feel that they are held rather stiffly above the plant and that the flowers themselves are rather stiff and awkward compared to other Masdevallias.  The plant is 10 cm and the flowers the same size.  It is from Ecuador and named for the purple spot on the dorsal sepal (naevia means "birthmark").

Porroglossum meridionale

Porroglossum meridionale is another species from a genus of insect-trapping flowers with hinged lips.  When disturbed by a small insect the lip suddenly snaps up trapping the insect against the column and effecting pollination.  I've provided pictures of the flowers with the lip in both positions.  This plant is 6 cm tall, the flower spikes 10 cm in length, and the flowers 1.5 cm.

Luzama amaluzae

Recently in bloom, this small species is also found under the name Masdevallia amaluzae.  Both plant and flowers are 3 cm, but the flowers are held well away from the plant on 6-8 cm spikes.  It seems to do best mounted and blooms reliably every spring.  I grow it with my other cool-temperature species.

Dendrobium vexillarius

This is a first bloom seedling, blooming on a very small plant.  Both plant size and flower color are extremely variable with this species.  I am very pleased with the flower color which can be red, orange, yellow, white, green, blue, grey, violet, purple or pink.  The flowers are a little less than 2.5 cm.  I am eager to see if how large the plant grows since this species can range from 3-40 cm.  If it stays small it is probably var. elworthyi.  It is from the highlands of New Guinea, the Moluccas and New Ireland, is cool-growing and belongs to the Oxyglossum section of the genus Dendrobium.