************************************************************ Colombian Orchid Species *************************** by Sean Eaton Our guest speaker at the October meeting was Andrea Niessen of Orquideas del Valle. She began her talk describing the geography of Colombia, a country in the northwest of South America. With two mountain ranges, a Pacific and a Caribbean coast, desert areas, and a portion of the Amazon river basin within in its borders, Colombia contains virtually all climates and environments conducive to orchid plants. Altitude ranges from sea level to 5000 meters; terrain ranges from desert to rainforest. With such a diversity of environments, the country is home to approximately 3000 species of orchids. "The largest variety of orchids," said Andrea, "although Ecuador would say the same." Andrea Niessen's company has two nurseries near Cali, one in the valley and one up in the nearby mountains, allowing a range of growing conditions for their stock. She brought to the meeting an interesting assortment of Masdevallias, Pleurothallids, Lycastes, and others for sale to members. Historically, it was the genus Cattleya that brought many of the early collectors to Colombia in search of new plants, but Andrea's special interest and enthusiasm was for a group of plants broadly described as members of the `Chondrorhyncha group'. (Most of the genera she discussed would fall under the tribe Maxillarieae, subtribe Zygopetalinae, according to Bechtel et alia's Manual of Cultivated Orchid Species). These included Bollea, Chaubardia, Chaubardiella, Chondroryncha, Cochleanthes, Huntleya, Kefersteinia, and Pescatorea. Generally, these orchids could be described as fan shaped in growth habit, with one flower per inflorescence, not very showy but frequent, year round bloomers. Although favoring cool conditions, many are fairly adaptable. They inhabit a swath of area from southern Central America into the northwest corner of South America. Andrea described representative species in each of these genera, and described some of the hybrids now available. Below are some of her comments. Bollea: B. coelestis is one of the bluest orchids, very floriferous in the fall and early spring, a cool grower but tolerant of intermediate conditions. This one has been crossed with Pescatorea. Other worthwhile species of Bollea include B. pulvinaris and B. lawrenceana. Chaubardia: A genus of smaller, floriferous plants. Charbardiella: Also contains relatively small plants, with flowers large for the plant. Chondroryncha: This genus has been useful in hybridization. It is a slow grower, with a large fringed lip, with mostly yellow to cream flowers, and tolerant of a range of growing conditions. One brightly colored member of this group is called Chondroryncha andreae, after our guest speaker. Cochleanthes: This one is white with a shell like lip, a medium sized plant with a large bloom size relative to the plant. Many hybrids have been made with C. amazonica, a clear white with purple striping on the lip. Huntleya: Plants in this genus have a distinctive downward bent lip, star shaped petals and sepals, and waxy texture. Two worthwhile species are H. citrina, a pure yellow, and H. fasciata, yellow with red tipped sepals and petals. Kefersteinia: The smallest in size of the group, this one is floriferous, a frequent bloomer and shows a variety of form. It enjoys phalaeonopsis-like growing conditions. Andrea remarked that generally, plants in this group will have larger, but fewer blooms grown under cool conditions, and more flowers, but smaller ones, when grown at higher temperature ranges. Several new species are currently being discovered in this group. K. tolimensis is often used in breeding. Pescatorea: This one has attractive foliage and is an easy grower. Good sized flowers are displayed one per inflorescence, but one growth can generate several blooms. Successful and attractive crosses have been made with Pescatorea and Bollea, Cochleanthes, and Kefersteinia. There are of course many other kinds of orchids in Colombia. Andrea went on to comment briefly on twenty other genera, with pictures of representative species. Many of these were relatively small, cool growing plants that preferred some degree of shade, although a few (Adas, some Draculas, some Masdevallias, Ionopsis, and Sigmatostalix) were easier to grow in warmer surroundings. More information is available in many orchid books, including some in our library. Native Colombian Orchids, Rodrigo Escobar ed., is a five-volume set filled with color photos. Orchids and Ecology in Colombia by Mariano Ospina deals with their habitat, and includes a checklist of native Colombian orchids. Both are available through the AOS. ************************************************************