Terrestrial Orchids

Fabulous Mark...what an amazing clump! You see these often enough now, but rarely with such size and flower power.

Very beautiful, Trond!  (Too baaaa-d about the sheep though.   ;)  Ugh, sorry!  :D)

Here in Idaho some of the orchids are allready long out of bloom. some are just getting started. I went out today June 13 2010 and took these pictures:
C. regineae


B. striata

E. gigantea


Orchis unknown

The only thing that would be good about having colder weather than zone 8 (for me that is) is growing more Cypripedium. I have 6 Cypripedium macranthum from a very low elevation in China with warmer winters but they have yet to flower for me. I might have some flowers this coming Spring (I hope) they are about 6 yr from deflasked seed now. But I do grow Dactylorhiza and Bletilla ochracea and other Bletilla in the garden.

I am with you on that. I wish I could find a good source for Dactylorhiza in the US there are lost of them in the UK but now they charge $60.00 per plant or bulb that is on the CITES list  :( . Politics as usual you can have it if you have lots of cash. You can get lots of Orchids on Ebay from China but it is a Federal crime here unless you have a CITES permit and they cost a lot there.

Here it is October 21st and my Bletilla ochracea thinks it is Spring again. It is flowering now and has two more flower stalks coming up. The joys of nature  :).

Good question! I guess I will find out in spring! We usually don't get hard frost where I live till December or later depending on the year. Last year our firt frost was Dec. 12 and it got down to 10 or 12 degrees F. for 2 days (and that was way colder than normal years) then almost no frosts under 27 the rest of the winter. 

A Cypripedium in flower now:

Cypripedium 'Emil' (C. calceolus x parviflorum)

McDonough wrote:

WimB wrote:

A Cypripedium in flower now:

Cypripedium 'Emil' (C. calceolus x parviflorum)

A dramatically handsome hybrid.  Judging from the parentage, it should be perfectly easy and hardy outside. Are you growing yours in a pot or the open ground?  I see this often on the SRGC pages, where apparently a number of Cyp species and hybrids are available and popular in Europe, unfortunately they are virtually unavailable or unobtainable here.

I grow it outside...perfectly hardy as you say! I have it in the shade in a soil enriched with compost.

In Europe there are a few people who have refined the sowing of these plants and who have made alot of gardenworthy hybrids: Werner Frosch of Frosch's Cypripedium: http://www.w-frosch.de/Cypris/menu_e.htm, Jan Moors of Crustacare: http://www.crustacare.be/Plants/HomepagePlantsEnglish.html and Svante Malmgren: http://www.lidaforsgarden.com/Orchids/cypripedium_eng.htm to name a few. They are starting to be mass-produced too: on gardenfairs in Belgium and our neighbouring countries you can find a lot of these hybrids for sale already, the prices are still very high though, on average 25-35 euro's for a plant. Last year I found a batch of them for sale in a local gardencenter (probably the hybrid Ulla Silkens) for 8 euro's a piece, needless to say, i bought a few  ;).

McDonough wrote:

Wow, only 8 euro's each :o  I'll check out those links later, have to get to work now.  Just checked around for USA sources, and lo and behond, there's a source right here in Massachusetts!  Oh no, I can see my money flying out of my wallet already ;)
http://www.hillsidenursery.biz/orchids/index.php#bkmrk67

I might have to indulge in a couple, because if they grow as easily as C. pubescens v. parviflorum or even C. reginae, they would be long-lived investments for the garden.  My larger clump of C. pubescens v. parviflorum went from 32 or 34 pips, to 42 pips this year, the smaller clump is now up to about 30 pips.  Must experiment and divide one of these clumps this year.

Also, Plant Delight's Nursery has a few.   Seems the going price for these beauties is between $50-$100.
http://www.plantdelights.com/Cypripedium-Dietrich-Perennial-Dietrich-Har...

Pricey, these things in the States...almost all of the hybrids (I see most of them are frosch hybrids) are very easy-growing!! You should try some...if your wallet can handle that  ;)

A couple of terrestrial orchids in flower here now:

Epipactis gigantea and
Epipactis palustris

Bletilla ochracea in bloom now.

Quite pleased about this as I purchased it as Nomocharis aperta and could of course see at once when it came it was something different.

Wow, rarely do misidentified purchases turn out so well!  I assume it is probably pot-grown, perhaps in a greenhouse.  Is it hardy outdoors for you there?   (Just curious... at the other end of the spectrum, Bletilla striata continues to be sold here, mass-produced in the Netherlands I think and sold bare-root, as a "hardy orchid" - fat chance.    :rolleyes:)

Lori

it may be hardy but I am not taking that chance. It will overwinter frost free.

Mark,

    We have a similar orchid in the Chicago Region.  Some of them have traits of Spiranthes magnicamporum.  Others look exactly like the orchid you posted.  The attached photo is from a colony I found that I thought was Spiranthes casei.  The experts tell me the Spiranthes in the attached photo is Spiranthes cernua.  I've just given up on trying to distinguish Spiranthes cernua, magnicamporum, and casei.  I think at least Spiranthes cernua and Spiranthes magicamporum integrate and can only be distinguished in their most distinctive specimens.
    Irregardless of taxonomic confusion, you can frequently find Spiranthes in open habitats from the Great Plains to the Atlantic Coast.  The habitat is usually given as wet areas for Spiranthes cernua. However, I find Spiranthes cernua in drier locations.  I think wetland habitats are listed because these were historically the only habitat in the East with a disturbance regime that kept the habitat in full sunlight.  I frequently find large colonies of Spiranthes in dry fields that were previously in agriculture.  I have been told it will grow from sown seed to flowering within three years in appropriate habitat.  Most people I have talked to who have dug them for their gardens eventually lost them.  They are so common I have always wondered why people try cultivation.  If they would only look around I am sure they would find a number of wild populations nearby that they could enjoy.

James

Welcome to the forum, James! 

This is a picture of Spiranthes Autumnalis in SW Turkey and following the remarks on habitat I thought you may be interested in seeing it. It is widespread in Europe in a variety of habitats and this picture is of it flowering in October in a very dry situation in sparse pine woods. At that stage there had been no rain since April and it must be triggered into growth by the area cooling down in autumn. It is about 6 inches tall.

Tony,

    The photo of Spiranthes autumnalis you posted looks a lot like the North American species, Spiranthes lacera.

James

Mark,

    The population of Spiranthes I found had flowers ranging from 6.5 mm long to 13 mm.  The specimen that our regional expert ended up collecting was on the larger side.  This is why I believe the dried specimen ended up being identified as Spiranthes cernua.  This surprised me considering a consensus had been reached that the plant was Spiranthes casei based on photos I had taken earlier.  These original photos were of the first plant I discovered which had flower that were only 7 mm long.

James

James wrote:

Tony,

     The photo of Spiranthes autumnalis you posted looks a lot like the North American species, Spiranthes lacera.

James

James,nice to see you on the forum. It could be the same thing!( I just saw Mark's post that flora of N. America gives 23 species of spiranthes,have they never heard of natural variation?)

It is not easy to grow and the Turkish ones are certainly tender and yet elsewhere across its range it is quite hardy.

Tony,

    Although I have not read the paper, I am told genetic studies have been done to distinguish at least some of the species.  However, this does not mean these species cannot produce stable hybrids.

James

Hoy wrote:

They ought to start similar projects on some orchids too. Several endangered species have more specimens in university herbaria than in the wild.

Hoy,

Here in the States we have a group of dedicated volunteers that are working to conserve the Federally threatened Eastern Prairie Fringed Orchid, Platanthera leucophaea.  In sites where pollination is not occurring volunteers make sure the job gets done.  Seed is also collected and distributed to new sites.  At least a few new populations have been established.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1996-08-04/news/9608040040_1_rare-orc...

Brush clearing is also occurring in areas where lack of light is impacting the orchid.  Although, this is occurring more broadly to reverse the disappearance of prairie/savannah that has been progressing for decades from the impact of fire suppression.

These efforts to remove invasive woody vegetation may have a farther reaching impact.  Grasslands reflect more solar radiation than forests.  The old oak trees store more carbon than smaller diameter brush.  These efforts could potentially help slow Global Warming.

Here's a story about a similar effort in arctic Russia.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40396941/ns/world_news-world_environment/t/o...

James

James wrote:

Tony,

     Although I have not read the paper, I am told genetic studies have been done to distinguish at least some of the species.  However, this does not mean these species cannot produce stable hybrids.

James

James I leave the naming to others confident in the knowledge that before long somebody will come up with a new system that will prove all others wrong,until the next one......

Interestingly I have Spiranthes sinensis both pink and giant forms and the reference I consulted says these are synonymous with S. spiralis which is synonymous with S. autumnalis and so it goes on.

Mark I never answered your point on them being able to grow to flower without moisture. They, as do most of the Mediterranean orchids, have an underground tuber which sustains growth until the rain arrives and subsequent root grow starts. Many start root growth before any moisture is present. I keep mine dry in the garage during the summer and they have all started to grow at re-potting in September.

Three of mine flowering now quite out of season.

Orchis morio
Ophrys lutes
Orchis anatolica

a tiny terrestrial flowering for me now.

It has very nice leaves.

Hemipilia sp.