Orchid of the day: Laelia endsfeldzii

Laelia endsfeldzii

This orchid bloomed in mid November last year with five flowers. This year we have four flowers but they are much bigger and the flower stalk towers at 37 cm in height. Laelia endsfeldzii is a native of Brazil, in the state of Minas Gerais near Itutinga. This orchid is rupicolous, meaning, it grows among rocks.

A) November 8th.

B) A close up of the developing flower buds.

C) By November 29th, the inflorescence or flower stalk was reaching upwards. It was difficult finding a good spot in our orchidarium.

D) By December 20th, almost all four flowers were completely open. The flower stalk measured at 37 cm or 15 inches in height.

E) Upon closer examination of the flowers, we noticed a darker yellow or even orange tinge on the tip of nearly all of the sepals. This was interesting as this star shaped flower should have a homogenous yellow to pale yellow appearance. This was what we saw last year.

F) Today, December 31st.

G) Fully opened flowers.

H) What a beautiful star shaped flower, with ruffled lip like lace!

I hope you've enjoyed this post. Another one should be just around the corner.

Happy 2016 everyone!

Orchid of the day: Laelia endsfeldzii

Laelia endsfeldzii

Laelia endsfeldzii is found in Brazil in Minas Gerais as a small lithophyte, i.e. grows on or in rocks, at elevations of 900 meters. This orchid does well in in bright light, warm to cool temperature, a long dry winter rest with occasional mistings. However, this orchid is not easy to cultivate.

A) Laelia endsfeldzii on October 26th.

B) Five flower buds developed

C) By November 6th, one flower opened.

D) The four flower buds and the single developed flower on November 6th.

E) A beautiful shot outside on November 8th. Now two flowers are seen.

F) A different angle for an up close shot of the blooms.

G) Three buds still pending on November 8th.

H) Today, November 19th.

I) Zoom of the four flowers on November 19th. One more bud still waiting to burst out!

J) Beautiful tiny blooms.

Arne had this orchid for three years. The first flower stem appeared two years ago and 'died' promptly before the first flower opened! Arne couldn't figure out what caused it but he was very happy to see the flowers this time. Only issue is that these flowers are so tiny! I want to say about 1 inch in diameter, about 2.5 cm. 

I will definitely update this post when I have all five flowers in bloom. As for the photos, my favorites are G and I.

Orchids of the day: Upcoming posts

Summer has turned to Fall here in Baltimore and our orchids are safely indoors. Although it has been an excellent year for our orchids, the Summer of 2014 has been rather cool in comparison to 2013. My Thai chilis and Cheyenne peppers weren't doing as well as they should but that is another story...

Slowly but surely, we have noticed several flower buds developing in at least five of our orchids right now. Today I'm going to share some photos of the early budding flowers from three of our orchids. I am beginning to chronicle the different stages of flowering now. The post today will be brief but I hope to 'wet' your appetites for upcoming posts of each of these orchids.

A) Laelia endsfeldzii, native to Brazil, in Minas Gerais.

B) Laelia endsfeldzii.  At least five flowering stems are developing today. The flowers should be yellow. This is exciting to see!

C) Aerangis luteo alba var. rhodosticta, miniature orchid from Kenya. Actually found across equatorial Africa. Four flower stems are developing from this miniature orchid. The color varies from pure white to ivory white, cream or pale yellow.

D) Laelia crawshayana x Broughtonia negrilensis. This orchid bloomed in 2013 with four flowers (See post April 22).

E) Here is what the flowers would look like (from earlier post April 22nd).

F) Laelia crawshayana x Broughtonia negrilensis. This time at least five flowers are getting ready to bloom.


Well, that is all the updates I have for today. Very soon it will be back to my weekly updates, I hope. Of course, the lack of flowering orchids is encouraging Arne to purchase more orchids! And thanks for the kind words from followers of this blog.