The Variegated Thumb

My parents-in-law were out of town for a month while my father-in-law was cycling from Seattle to Los Angeles.  While they were away, we were in charge of keeping their pups and orchids alive.  Mission successful: all survived.

One of the orchids came into bloom just before they came home, Eulophia streptopetala.  My mother-in-law bought this orchid while she was in California last year at Santa Barbara Orchid Estate.  She purchased this particular orchid because of it is native to Ethiopia, the country from which we are adopting.

Eulophia streptopetala first blooms. Sorry the picture is out of focus. Once again, this is on my camera phone and I couldn't tell it missed the focus point.

While I was excited about the orchid blooming for the first time, they were back at the Santa Barbara Orchid Estate again.  They brought home three new orchids, two for me, in thanks for taking care of the orchids!

Lockhartia oerstedii

Lockhartia oerstedii spent blooms

The first orchid has a really unique growth habit.  It is a species orchid, Lockhartia oerstedii, from central America.  When I looked up the description of this plant I learned a couple new botanical vocabulary words.  The first is imbricate, which refers to the overlapping leaves which look like roof shingles or reptile scales.  A second word is caespitose, which means densely clumped.

Cirrhopetalum makoyanum

The second orchid is the species Cirrhopetalum makoyanum.  The Cirrhopetalum genus is closely related to the Bulbophyllum genus, and many of the plants are still labeled with that genus name.  It has a very distinct inflorescence, which is made up of several flowers arranged in a semi-circular pattern that look like half to 3/4 of a daisy.  You can see a picture here.

My mother-in-law's tiny hybrid orchid. Notice the size compared to the penny!

The last orchid is one that my mother-in-law bought for herself.  It is a tiny miniature (Yes, I think it is appropriate to use both words) mounted on cork bark.  And it’s even in bloom.  Check out the penny for size comparison.  Pretty incredible, isn’t it?  I’m really liking these little mounted orchids.  They are easy to care for – assuming you don’t mind watering them regularly.  You don’t have to worry about the roots rotting.  And since everything is right there on display, you can tell if the roots are healthy or not.  Also, it’s more appealing to me than a plant in a pot.  And you can hang them in all sorts of places.  The list goes on and on.  Can you tell I like these things?  I have a post on my mounted miniatures coming soon.  This hybrid is known as a “primary hybrid,” which means both parents of this plant are pure species.  Anyway, if you’ve read through this entire paragraph hoping to learn the name of this plant, here’s your reward: Ornithocephalis iridifolius x Zygostatus alleniana.  If you were reading the paragraph hoping for some other reward: sorry, that’s all you get.

Just a month before the IAS show, where I expect to be purchasing some aroids, I was sent a box from my fellow Aglaonema addict and friend, Russ.  He sent me 8 wonderful plants: 5 Aglaonemas and 3 Dieffenbachias.

Aglaonema 'Brilliant'

Several of these new Aglaonemas have the distinctive white petioles (leaf stems) and center ribs.  This includes Aglaonema ‘Brilliant’ (above) and Aglaonema ‘White Rain’ (below).

Aglaonema 'White Rain'

Christie’s favorite plant out of this batch is Aglaonema ‘Key Largo’, which has relatively wide leaves that are deep green, with a lot of silver in the middle of the leaves and some small patches of silver/green mixed in there.  I wonder if Christie has a subconscious favoritism here because of her excitement about our trip to the Florida Keys next month!

Aglaonema 'Key Largo'

One of these plants comes from a seedling that Russ acquired from Aglaonema breeder and author Frank Brown.  The seedling is from ‘Queen of Siam’, but it has green petioles, whereas the registered hybrid ‘Queen of Siam’ has white petioles.

Aglaonema 'Queen of Siam'

Aglaonema 'Cassandra'

The first Dieffenbachia is actually a species, the only species Russ sent this time.  It is Dieffenbachia tarabitensis, which is native to Ecuador.  It is primarily a dark green, but there is a very small amount of variegation near the center rib.  The most distinctive feature is the mottled petioles.  Can you see how the stem leading to the leaves is not solid in color?

Dieffenbachia tarabitensis

Dieffenbachia hybrid. Probably D. 'Paradise'

These last two are somewhat unknowns.  Russ thinks the one above is probably the hybrid Dieffenbachia ‘Paradise’ but he doesn’t know whether the other is even a species or hybrid.  Maybe I can get some help figuring out that one.  It’s actually my favorite plant in the batch since it is so unique.  The leaves are almost entirely silver, with a white midrib and a couple blotches of white and green on the leaves.  You can also see the parallel veins in green, arching away from the midrib.

Unidentified Dieffenbachia. Could be a hybrid or a species.

It’s so great to have friends interested in growing these plants.  While an Aglaonema is not impossible to find, it is really hard to find one with the correct name attached and to find a location with much of a selection.  The species and older hybrids are found only in collections.  And with generous friends you can grow your collection without spending a lot of money.

I have 5 orchids in bloom at home right now, which is wonderful. Two of them are new orchids that I purchased while they were in bud. While they aren’t “earned” blooms, I am glad to see them.

Dendrobium 'Little Green Apples'

I have more Dendrobiums than any other orchid genus. I would like to concentrate on species, but I did buy this hybrid ‘Little Green Apples’ which is a huge plant – easily my biggest orchid plant right now.  I saw a picture of the plant next to a yard stick for comparison, but somehow it seemed even bigger once it arrived in the mail.

Dendrobium 'Little Green Apples'

This hybrid is made from D. Green Elf x. D. convolutum, and Green Elf is made from D. convolutum x D. alexandrae, which means that the plant is 3/4 convolutum and 1/4 alexandrae, if that makes sense.

Bpl. Golden Peacock 'Orange Beauty'

My other new orchid is just beautiful, in my opinion.  I really like the color of this one.  And the simple shape of the flowers.  And the speckling.  And the foliage – tall, thick stiff leaves.  Just a really cool orchid.  Not surprisingly*, this orchid is also a hybrid. This one is called Bpl. Golden Peacock ‘Orange Beauty.’ Why the excessively long name? I don’t know. I consulted my handy dandy orchid hybrid abbreviation directory to learn that Bpl. stands for Brassoepilaelia. The parentage is Bl. Richard Mueller x. Epi. vitellinum, and Bl. Richard Mueller is from Brassavola nodosa x. Laelia milleri.

Bpl. Golden Peacock 'Orange Beauty'

* I am noticing that the more familiar I become with orchids, I am starting to identify hybrids and species as having a distinctly different quality most of the time.  Not always, but a lot of the time.  It’s sort of like how someone that knows dogs pretty well can see a dog and know if it is a full breed or a mix, even if they haven’t seen that particular breed or mix before.

I got two miniature orchids in the mail yesterday.  First, I give you, Encyclia dickinsoniana.

Encyclia dickinsoniana. (Note: the spelling on the tag is wrong.)

Next, is Epidendrum longicaule, which is currently in bloom.

Epidendrum longicaule

Pretty nice, huh?

“Just how big are these miniatures?” you might ask.  Well, here’s a little size comparison.

Dendrobium 'Marie McFarlane' and Epidendrum longicaule (tiny)

Note: the larger Dendrobium orchid is really not a big plant.  That tiny thing sitting at the base is my Epidendrum longicaule.  Needless to say, Christie really likes my tiny blooming orchid.  After all, it’s tiny.

My parents visited San Francisco a couple of weeks ago.  While they were there they visited the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers and saw lots of really neat orchids.  They visited another place where you can see orchids, as well – Trader Joe’s grocery store!

Beallara Eurostar 'Green Valley'

They found this cool orchid and brought it home to me.  It is Beallara Eurostar ‘Green Valley.’  To be honest, I hadn’t heard of the Beallara genus before.  The flower looks kind of like a Brassia to me, with long spider-like petals.  This particular orchid has really neat colors in the flowers.

Beallara Eurostar 'Green Valley'

My mom named him Sylvester.