Coryhopea Red Martian

 

Coryhopea Red Martian inflorescence with three flowers

 

This orchid is an intergeneric cross between Stanhopea martiana and Coryanthes macrantha var. aureum.  There is a lot of hybrid vigor to the plant and it grows large rather quickly.  The flowers don’t open fully and are best viewed from below. They are quite spectacular to look at and have been described as alien looking.  The fragrance of the flowers is rather similar to cherry cough syrup or cherry cola.  This is a very agreeable fragrance indeed. There are two leaves per pseudobulb. The leaves are lanceolate in shape 18 to 19 inches (45.7 to 48.3 cm) long, and 3.0 to 4.25 inches (7.6 to 10.8 cm) wide.

 



Coryhopea Red Martian flower
photographed from below

The flowers are 3.5 to 4.5 inches (8.9- 11.4 cm) wide and a deep red color with many mahogany to red spots on the sepals, petals, and hypochile.  The sepals and petals are cream to white at the tips with red spots.  The upper hypochile is orange-red to deep red in color and the mesochile and horns are yellow with mahogany spots/streaks.  The epichile is bright yellow on the lower portion with deep red spots/streaks, turning solid red on the upper portion..



Coryhopea Red Martian with
human heart shaped buds

Unopened buds are a joy to watch grow and develop.  Once they mature they almost appear to be oddly shaped human hearts.  This makes the opening of the flowers full of anticipation and almost unnerving! I grow this orchid warm and bring it indoors during the winter given that one of the parents of the cross is a warm growing Coryanthes.  It spends the rest of the year growing outdoors on the north side of my house.

 

 

Stanhopea panamensis

 

Stanhopea panamensis with five flowers on this inflorescence

 

This is a tropical growing species that thrives in warm and humid environments in tropical forests of Panama at 2,950 feet (900 m) in elevation.  This species grows in shade and dappled shade and appreciates being grown outdoors during the summer.  Unfortunately, this is one of the Stanhopeas that I have to take indoors during the winter months.  Some sources say it dislikes temperatures below 60F (14C) at night, others say temperatures near 50F (10C) are fine. Barney Greer's book mentions that a grower did well with this in Sydney, Australia growing outdoors, so there is hope that I could try this one outside when it matures a little more.

Stanhopea panamensis close up of flower

The flowers are large to 5-5.5 inches (12.7 - 14.0 cm) wide and are primarily white with dark purple spots on the petals and sepals. The hypochile is a bright yellow with the remainder of the prominent mesochile and epichile being white. There are small dark purple spots on the upper portion of the epichile and interior portion of the horns of this Stanhopea. This species was once combined into S. oculata, which it resembles. However, S. panamensis doesn’t have eye spots, has a more verticle hypochile, and a different fragrance. The flowers have a faint lily scent at first, almost like an Easter Lily (Lilium longiflorum) or Moon Flower (Ipomoea alba). Later as the flower matures it has a mixture of lily and clove fragrance, but faint. 



Stanhopea panamensis inflorescence 
in bud

The buds of this species have very prominent, dense, dark brown to black scales on the sepals, ovary, and inflorescence bracts. This species is a large plant with large leaves 13-24 inches (33-61 cm) long, and leaf blades 4.25-6.0 inches (10.8-15.2 cm) wide. I have this plant growing on the north side of the house under the eaves in spring/summer. I provide it with 50% shade cloth, and about 2 hours of full morning sun per day in the summer.

  

 

Stanhopea wardii

 

Stanhopea wardii var. citrina inflorescence with five flowers

This species is native to Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, and Venezuela.  It grows in warm to cool cloud forests from 2600 – 5300 feet (800-1600 meters) in elevation.  It is one of the easier species of Stanhopea to grow outside here in southern California, and can take early morning sun and dappled shade the rest of the day.  This form is S. wardii var. citrina and has green/yellow flowers when they first open, almost chartreus in color.  The flowers later fade to a more burnt yellow or golden yellow color.  The standard form is a more subdued yellow color.  Both forms have a black eye spot on the upper hypochile that is a deep golden yellow color.  The fragrance of this Stanhopea is rather intense lemon/citrus at first.  After the flowers have been open for a few hours the fragrance lessens to a tart lime fragrance similar to crushed lime leaves.  It is a very pleasant and clean fragrance.  This seems to be consistent with the fragrance study done that includes limonene in some clones at 1.7%.; however, I have not detected the 1.8 cineole of 1-33% that would give it a Eucalyptus or camphor-like fragrance in this form.

 

Stanhopea wardii var. citrina close up

The flower is 2.8 to 3.1 inches (7.0 to 8 cm) wide but there are usually several flowers (7-10) on a given inflorescence.   The inflorescences can be quite long, up to 9 inches (22.9 cm) in length in many S. wardii forms.  Because the inflorescences are so long, this species can make a very nice specimen placed in a large basket that enables the inflorescences to grow out and down.  The leaves of this orchid are a thick and leathery, green with a slight blue-gray tint to them, and are 9 to 16 inches  (22.9 to 40.6 cm) long and 2.8 to 3.8 inches (7.1 to 9.6 cm)  wide.  This orchid is one of the more easily grown species of Stanhopea and are often readily available in the orchid nursery trade.  For me, S. wardii has been a reliable bloomer every year and easily produces several inflorescences.  These attributes make this Stanhopea a good candidate to grow for a beginning grower.



Stanhopea wardii var.
citrina bud


The buds that are close to opening have a fantastic flourescent chartreus color, and the reddish brown spotts on the sepals can be seen before the flower opens!



Stanhopea tigrina var. nigroviolacea 'Predator'

S. tigrina var. nigroviolacea 'Predator" with two new flowers opening.

Awesome is an adjective that I like to use to describe this orchid.  It is one of my favorite varieties of Stanhopea that I usually place with S. tigrina var. nigroviolacea.  This orchid has some of the darkest and most intense oxblood, to almost black color on the petals and sepals.  As the grex name implies it is named after a favored cinematic alien invader that hunted humans.  The comparison of the photos here will allow you to make up your own mind…..they do resemble each other to me!

S. tigrina var. nigroviolacea 'Predator' with
four inflorescences open.

This plant is one of my older specimens and I re-basketed it last year.  Since I had purchased it over 10 years ago, it consistently provided me 2 inflorescences each year until last year when it only had one flower.  This year it has rewarded me with nine inflorescences and four have opened all at once.  This orchid has a strong fragrance that is very intense in the cool of the morning until about 11:00 a.m.  A large plant such as this one can produce several inflorescences, and the fragrance of the flowers can be so intense that it can be detected 20 feet away from the plant.  Some people find the fragrance too strong, and almost intoxicating!  The fragrance of these orchids is often described as chocolate and vanilla.  The major component of the fragrance of this orchid and several other Stanhopeas is phenylethyl acetate which can often provide a floral, fruity, or Liqueur-like fragrance.

 

Stanhope tigrina is a sturdy plant for southern California and is not only one of the showiest species in the genus, but is rather easy to grow.  It can often take early morning sun along the coast without burning and dappled shade the rest of the day.  Average fertilizer and water throughout the year are all it demands.  This is one species that can easily be placed in a large basket because the inflorescences can reach over 8 inches in length (20 cm) and can easily grow out of larger baskets.  These orchids produce the largest flowers in the genus and can approach 6 inches (15 cm) in width.  The leaves are tough and leathery 10.0 -12.5 inches (25.4-31.8) cm long and 3.3-4.5 inches (8.3-11.4) cm wide.

Here is another of my attempts at timelaps photography of Stanhopeas.  I was only able to get the last half of these two flowers opening.  It is difficult to get to the flowers before they open in the morning, so I had better be up at 4:00 a.m. for the next chance. 

Stanhopea shuttleworthii



Stanhopea shuttleworthii buds glowing
in the morning sun, 2 days from opening.

Waiting and watching Stanhopea inflorescences mature and come into bloom is part of the fun of growing this genus.  It is especially satisfying to witness the first flowering of a plant for the year.  This orchid surprised me by producing five inflorescences this year and the first one was way ahead of the rest.  This orchid was in bloom for a good 3 weeks, though with only one or two inflorescences at a time open.  Once Stanhopeas grow large enough, they are able to provide you with weeks of bloom even thought the individual flowers may last 3-5 days.

Stanhopea shuttleworthii with 5 inflorescences

This Stanhopea is native to Colombia and is found in foothills around 3000 feet (1000 m) in elevation. This species is listed as a warm grower, but seems to do just fine outside here in southern California.  It is provided a little extra shelter of a roof overhang in winter, so the plant is grown a bit warmer than some of my other species. I have this growing on the north-east side of the house and it only gets approximately 1 hour of direct sun in the summer.  The leaves are 15 - 17 inches (38.1 - 43.2 cm) long, 3.4 - 3.8 inches (8.6 - 9.5 cm) wide, and narrowly lanceolate in shape. The flowers are 5.6 inches (14.3 cm) wide.



Stanhopea shuttleworthii hypochile detail

This form has deep golden yellow sepals and petals with several reddish-brown large spots. The petals have large deep red eye spots at the base. The hypochile is primarily yellow with dark blood red eyespots on the side with what appears to be blood red smears on the inside of the hypochile.  The horns and epichile are primarily white with small red spots on the inside of the horns and top of the epichile.  There are forms that have lighter yellow sepals and petals with lighter reddish spots.

The fragrance of S. shuttleworthii is difficult to describe.  Some people say it smells like mothballs, others say it smells like an expensive perfume.  The fragrance shifts a bit, first smelling similar to vanilla when the flowers first open, later a combination of sweet mothballs and a light lemon scent.  After the flower has been open for a few hours, the fragrance reminds me of lemon meringue.  Most people find the fragrance rather pleasing and a good combination.

 

 

One of my first attempts to capture Stanhopeas flowering. The difficulty is making sure you are up early enough to have the equipment running in order to capture all the movements of the buds opening ;-)

Gongora galeata

Gongora galeata with several inflorescences

Gongora (Acropera) galeata

This is a small Mexican species that was originally the type for the genus Gongora, unless you agree that it should be in its own genus of Acropera. This plant is easy to maintain in a 5” basket and the thin strap shaped leaves are small enough to be a miniature plant in the collection. The leaves are 6.0 - 9.0 inches (15 - 22.5 cm) long and 1.0 - 1.5 inches (2.5 - 3.8 cm) wide. This species is found in cloud forests from 1,970 - 5,900 feet (600 to 1800 meters) in elevation and prefers warm conditions with constant moisture and good air movement.  It does perform well in southern California growing outdoors given extra moisture is provided to prevent desiccation because of the small size of the plant. This orchid also prefers a location that always has air movement, and part shade.  Unfortunately, this plant’s leaves are easily affected by a fungus that causes leaf spot when there is not enough air movement. Leaf tip burn can be a problem in areas where water is high in salts and dissolved solids. 

Gongora galeata close up of flowers

The flowers are often seen as a form with a yellow or golden labellum (lip) with red spots at the base, and reddish brown to flesh pink sepals and petals. There is also a form that has bright yellow/green sepals and petals which provides a nice contrast with the labellum. The fragrance of this orchid has often been described as similar to an orange. I have only detected this fruit-like fragrance as subtle in the forms that I grow, and instead would describe it as a nice clean fragrance similar to freshly laundered and starched shirts!