Epidendrum

[Tess1]

My son presented me with his (almost) favorite orchid, the epidendrum, also known as the poor man's orchid. Actually his real great favorites are the australian native dendrobiums. Previously he gave me several epi cuttings which came out of a friend's garden. However this one he bought for me, it is a pink one. And here it is.

The white spots on the leaves of the old plants is hail damage, the plants were outside for a while, but now will stay inside to prevent any more of such unsightly bruising.

[Vivienne]

Very pretty Tess. What a thoughtful son you have!!

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by Tess1

My son presented me with his (almost) favorite orchid, the epidendrum, also known as the poor man's orchid.

Hi Tess,

You are correct that your orchid is an Epidendrum (capitalized because all genus names are capitalized) but the common name for this orchid is the Crucifix Orchid and not Poor Man's Orchid.

The name "Poor Man's Orchid" refers to several different plants, none of which are orchids:

Schizanthus pinnatus
Impatiens balfourii
Schizanthus wisetonensis

Cheers

[joan gero]

Boy do I not understand Epidendrums!!! I have an E. Green Hornet (not very descriptive, sorry, and my partner is still in the field with our digital camera so I still can't post any pix)... anyway, this E has very different leaves and its flowers are spider-y skinny white petals with a crown-like striped thing in the middle -- oh, what a terrible description. Anyway, I've also seen bushy-like flowers on E... what makes them all Epidendrums???

[Fabolusus]

I have read descriptions of Epidendrums refering to them as "The Poor Man's Orchid" before. However, I've never heard any growers or hobbyists call them that.

http://www.orchidmall.com/general/epi_art.htm

http://www.webindia123.com/garden/fl...epidendrum.htm

http://www.desert-tropicals.com/bbs/posts/1198.html

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

There are Epidendrums, and then there are 'Reedstemmed Epidendrums', which is a subset of Epidendrums, and that is what you have. I thought the common name for them was WEED.

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by joan gero

Boy do I not understand Epidendrums!!! I have an E. Green Hornet .... what makes them all Epidendrums???

joan,

As Cynthia has indicated there are different kinds of Epidendrums. With your E. Green Hornet, the "E" is probably for Encyclia, not Epidendrum. Encyclias used to be Epidendrums but were split off some time ago. The cockle-shell Encyclias (which is what your Green Hornet is) have been again split off from the rest of the Encyclias. I think they're called Prostechya (sp?) now.

What you have is a reed-stem Epidendrum, one of the few still called Epidendrum.

[jerrymeola]

The Green Hornet is a primary hybrid of two Epidendrum so there is not Encyclia in the plant.

Now Encyclias and Epidendrum are very closely related. With all these distinctions hobbyist get confused because they think the name differences mean something important. It is usually only important to the scientific community.

Any unique difference can get a scientist to classify a new family. If he has enough support in the scientific community it is adapted. It is probably something about the way the pseudo bulbs form that makes the distinction. Note in the picture the elongated speudo buld, whereas, Encyclia had golf ball shaped bulbs.

For use hobbyist, the grow the same, need the same conditions, and the flowers look a lot alike. For me that is enough to enjoy and raise them

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by jerrymeola

The Green Hornet is a primary hybrid of two Epidendrum so there is not Encyclia in the plant.

Actually between roughly the 70's and the late 90's there was Encyclia in Green Hornet, in fact it was all Encyclia. Both Epi cochleatum and Epi. lancifolium were reclassified as Encyclias, I think back in the 70's (not 100% sure exactly when but it was before I got into orchids). At that point they became Encyclia cochleata and Encyclia lancifolia and so Encyclia Green Hornet.

My understanding is that around that time all Epidendrums with pseudobulbs were reclassified as Encyclia. Those plants with reedy stems (both upright and/or pendant) remained Epidendrum.

In the late 90's all of the cockleshell Encyclias including both cochleata and lancifolia were again reclassified (being split off form the genus Encyclia) and are now Prosthechea, and therefore we have: Prosthechea cochleata and Prosthechea lancifolia and the hybrid Prosthechea Green Hornet.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

I think Kevin is right. But I also noted recently that the RHS has some mistakes in there files since they made all the genus name changes, and some of the mistakes are in the encyclia related plants.

[Tess1]

Lol kmarch, I have heard that epidendrum are called poor man's orchid because they grow so easily;

http://www.webindia123.com/garden/fl...epidendrum.htm

However, they don't grow so easily for me, the cymbids are kinder to me.
Thanks for telling me about the Caps for the first letter of the genus, I cannot get my head around the correct nomenclature. I read your explanation of it all in another thread, (sticky?) But it is complicated.

[joan gero]

Well I am most appreciative indeed for these answers to my query. I take it that all the plants remaining as Epidendrums are reedy-stemmed... I will try to master what these look like. But meanwhile I am so pleased to know more about my bloomin' cockleshells! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, Kevin and Cynthia and Jerry.

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by Tess1

Lol kmarch, I have heard that epidendrum are called poor man's orchid because they grow so easily;

This is a classic example of why I loathe common names so and vigorously encourage orchid hobbiests to learn and use the proper species and hybrid names. Common names create so much confusion. One name can apply to several different orchids or to non-orchids and one orchid can have more than one common name. It's so much simpler just to learn the proper, scientific name then there's no ambiguity and no confusion.

Originally Posted by Tess1

Thanks for telling me about the Caps for the first letter of the genus, I cannot get my head around the correct nomenclature. I read your explanation of it all in another thread, (sticky?) But it is complicated.

Thanks for reading that thread. When you bopil it down it is really super simple:

1) All names are capitalized except for: b) species names; b) form, variety, and the other names below the rank of species (fairly uncommon).

2) Cultivar names and cultivar names only appear in single quotation marks.

So with respect to this thread and the Epi/Encyclia/Prosteachea names we're dealing with here:

Prostechea Green Hornet (first name which is the genus: capitalized; second name which is the hybrid name or grex: capitalized)

Encyclia cochleata; aka Prostechea cochleata (first name which is the genus: capitalized; second name which is the species name: not capitalized

We haven't dealt with cultivar names in this thread but as an example:

Paphiopedium insigne 'Harfield Hall' (first name which is the genus: capitalized; second name which is the species name: not capitalized; thrid name which is the cultivar name: capitalized and in single quotes).

Hopefully that will simplify things a bit. It's really not so bad.

Cheers

Oh and P.S. - I did come across that website myself and I did contact them and inform them that their website is incorrect with respect to the common name of that Epidendrum. Just because it's on the web doesn't mean it's correct.

[WIB]

I think it's spelled Prosthechea cochleata.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosthechea
Wikipedia has remarkably good orchid articles.
I would also note that it is customary to italicize the genus and species names as well as the compound names of intergeneric hybrids, leaving cultivars in roman with single quotes.

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by WIB

I think it's spelled Prosthechea cochleata.

You are correct on the spelling. I'm typically a stickler for spellings but this one gives me grief.

Originally Posted by WIB

Wikipedia has remarkably good orchid articles.

I've found some good orchid things on Wikipedia but have found several mistakes in Wikipedia articles as well. I've never found a spelling mistake in a Wikipedia orchid article. I'd recommend not using Wikipedia as the final authority or the sole source for orchid info. Better to double check the info with a recognized orchid authority.

Originally Posted by WIB

I would also note that it is customary to italicize the genus and species names as well as the compound names of intergeneric hybrids, leaving cultivars in roman with single quotes.

Quite correct.

[WIB]

Thanks for the heads up on Wikipedia.

[Tess1]

Many thanks for that explanation kmarch, and your input WIB. Now.......to memorise it all.