Seed Pod?

[zuerose]

A friend gave me the orchid you see in the attached photo. I have no idea what it is and as she was running out the door she said, "By the way, that thing at the top is a seed pod." Okay, should I do anything with it? Leave it? Help! Photos attached.

Thanks - Sue

[kmarch]

It looks like you have some type of small Encyclia, perhaps Encyclia tampensis? If so, go to the AOS website (www.aos.org) and download a culture sheet on Cattleya culture as Encyclia culture is similar.

You do have a seed pod. It looks like it is fairly advanced in its development. If you leave it, it will mature and split and release thousands of dust-like seeds into the air. In nature usually only a small number out of tens of thousands of seeds survive to adulthood. In cultivation, orchids grown from seed are done so in controlled sterile labratory conditions. We call this process "flasking" because the tiny orchid seeds are grown in labratory flasks. If you wanted to, you could do a little bit of research and locate someone to flask the seeds for you. They would give you instructions when to harvest the pod and send it to them. some flaskers charge a fee, others make 3-4 flasks more than you request and sell the others off to cover their costs.

One small hitch in this is that people usually like to know what the other parent is. Does the friend who gave you this orchid have other Orchids?

Cheers

[zuerose]

man, you're good! i looked up a photo of a Encyclia tampensis and it looks exactly like the picture she showed me last week (we were sharing pictures of our orchids). I mentioned that I thought it was pretty so she must have decided to give this to me. How nice!

Yes, she grows orchids but is away until next week. I'll ask her when she returns. I don't know if I'll try to find a "flasker" or not. What's your advice on this? The web site I looked at says this is a Butterfly Orchid and is protected in Florida (from collecting in the wild).

[kmarch]

It also helps that I've grown a copule of these, so it was an educated guess made form a bit of experience.

i rarely if ever go by common names like "Butterfly Orchid" because common names can be different fo rthe same plant in different geographical regions or many different orchids can be referred to by the same common name. Too much confusion and inaccuracy for my taste so I always use the scientific name.

i could be wrong about the location of the plant or perhaps I am confusingit wiht another plant. if you have reliable info that says Enc. tampsnsis is native to Florida go with it. And it looks like I have learned somethign today too!

[jerrymeola]

Encyclia tempensis is native to Florida, but not exclusively Florida.

I have always heard that it is named after Tampa. They certainly have adopted it.

It should do fine in the basket. I have grown hundreds and they like their roots exposed and hated the seedling mix I originally tried.

They are protected from collecting in the wild, but can be harvested from private property. They grow wild from Tampa to the Everglades. They are almost impossible to find since they are so small.

I have a neighbor who has them on his property and can only find them when in bloom.

A development was clearing 100 acres of old forest and the president of our orchid society was invited to take anything he wanted from the burn piles before they were gone. He got pieces of tempensis three feet across. They were re-introduced into oak trees on Pine Island. They should do well.

[zuerose]

I asked my friend and she said a Butterfly Orchid is exactly what it is. I think I'm going to pass on doing anything with the seed pod at this point in my (lack of) experience. I'm new at this and quite content just to see my plants live and grow and actually bloom. Amazing. I now have 6 plants and looking forward to more, as soon as we stay home for one weekend so we can build what I call an "orchid structure". At a later date I may be up for something different...

Thanks though, another bit of education...

[kmarch]

zuerose,

Stick a tag in the pot that says Encyclia tampensis so the person who grows it on after you or who gets a piece of it later knows exactly what it is. i prefer the scientific names (Encyclia tampensis) to the common names (Butterfly Orchid) because common names are not standard. The same common name can be used for many different plants and one plant can have more than one common name whereas every orchid has its own unique scientific name. It's perfectly fine to call it a Butterfly Orchid, no orchid police will come knocking on your door for doing that but stick a tag that says Encyclia tampensis in the basket anyway.

Happy Growing!

[zuerose]

good idea - I'll do it. Thanks - Sue

...2 minutes later - done...

[rockets_vandas]

hey i've just recently was given a piece of this from down by fort de soto in st.petersburg, fl. very close to tampa i got about about 5-7 bulbs and one is just starting to throw a spike. do you think it will continue to grow, i mounted it on a cedar piece of driftwood. i'll send a pic if anyone wants to see. thanks

[kmarch]

given good culture, of course it will continue to grow. Like I recommended above go to the American Orchid Society and get a cattleya culture sheet. Encyclia culture is similar to cattleya culture.

I had 2 Encyclia tampensis, one in a pot and one mounted. The mounted one did significantly better. I soaked it mount and all once a week and sprayed the exposed roots daily. This may or may not be necessary in south Florida where it is wet and humid. check with other orchid growers in your area for specifics.

[dipasquo]

This plant from my collection is currently in bloom. The tag in the pot is Epidendrum tampense "Hana" but the plant and flowers match the description of Encyclia tampensis as close as the eye can see. Is this another name for the same plant, could it be named wrong in the pot, or are they actually different plants?

[jerrymeola]

dipasquo
the names are the same 'Hana' on the end indicates a color strain. It should have been awarded by a recognisd society like AOS to use a variety name. The color is exactly normal so it was awarded because of an exceptional plant.

When we clone orchids we are allowed to use the color variety on the cloneds.

[jerrymeola]

rockets

expect many of the bulbs to loose leaves. The plant will continue to spread with new bulbs growing off the side of the old ones.

Encyclia are very fragrant.

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by dipasquo

TThe tag in the pot is Epidendrum tampense "Hana" but the plant and flowers match the description of Encyclia tampensis as close as the eye can see. Is this another name for the same plant, could it be named wrong in the pot, or are they actually different plants?

The correct spelling is "tampensis" so Encyclia tampensis. The other spelling is incorrect.

[rockets_vandas]

will a bulb throw a second spike because the piece that i got only has 1 bulb giving a spike and all the others have already spiked thats why i asked if they would bloom a second time thanks.

[dipasquo]

Thanks for the clarification, I should make a new tag and stick it in the pot so that I don't prolong the error.