Stanhopea gibbosa

This orchid is native to wet and humid forests of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Panama and grows best in intermediate temperature conditions .  It grows from 1,640 to 4,920 feet in elevation (500 to 1,500 m).  The 4.5 to 5 inch (11.4 to 12.7 cm) flowers are yellow to cream colored and have several reddish spots on the sepals, petals, and hypochile.  The flowers have a nice scent of Eucalyptus, menthol, and pine mixed together.  This species is often confused with Stanhopea costaricensis, but this species appears to have a more prominent and consistent form with two bulges at the back of the hypochile which is different than S. costaricensis. 

This Stanhopea appreciates shade and an abundance of humidity and water.  It tends to perform poorly without these cultural requirements and is shy to bloom.  I tend to water it every day during the summer, and even that seems to be insufficient.  I think it would prefer to be constantly moist and humid at all times.

Stanhopea gibbosa inflorescence

Stanhopea gibbosa single flower

Stanhopea tigrina var. nigroviolacea

This form of Stanhopea tigrina var. nigroviolacea is a recently flowered plant that I received in a trade.  The original plant was grown in Germany and this doesn't seem to be a form that is common here in California.  It has flowers that are medium sized at approximately 5 inches across. The yellow color on the petals and sepals is rather intense and the reddish brown stripes are uneven on the upper dorsal sepal.  It will be interesting to see how consistent the flowers are from one year to the next.  Perhaps this plant has more variation in the flowers than I have seen up to this point, since this is the first flowering I have had of this form.

Stanhopea tigrina var. nigroviolacea