365 days of orchids – day 5 – Pseudolaelia corcovadensis
This is the first flowering of plants we have raised from seed collected in Brazil in 2006. Ten years from seed to flowering is a while to wait but we have been able to other things during those ten years.
As Jacob reminds me, we think we may be the first to raise this species successfully from seed. We will be pollinating the plant to produce a fresh batch of seed this week.
In the wild we found the plant growing as an epiphyte on the shrub Vellosia which clings to bare granite slopes on the dryer slopes of the Organ Mountains.
The leaves of Pseudolaelia appear to mimic the rough leaves of Vellosia which presumably reduce the chance of grazing. We took the photo below of the plant flowering on ‘Tick Mountain’ in Brazil during the 2001 Writhlington expedition. Thanks to Dick Warren and all at the Rio Atlantic Forest Trust for taking us to this fantastic habitat.
Join the Discussion
Prezado, estou no meu segundo ano de Doutorado na ENBT-Jardim Botânico do Rio de janeiro desenvolvendo a tese: Conservação e reintrodução de Pseudolaelia corcovadensis. Só hoje sua página apareceu para mim e gostaria muito de saber onde essa planta foi coletada e se está depositada em algum herbário, pois não há nenhum registro para o município do Rio de Janeiro,desde 1935(Porto & Brade). Ficaria muito agradecida se pudesse me informar o local, o mais preciso possível, para que eu possa incluir na minha tese e coletar folhas para análise molecular da população. Aguardo sua resposta, desde já agradeço.Suzy
Thank you for your interesting comment – I have included a hopefully accurate google translate below and will get in touch by e-mail.
Dear, I am in my second year of Doctorate at the ENBT-Botanical Garden of Rio de Janeiro developing the thesis: Conservation and reintroduction of Pseudolaelia corcovadensis. Only today your page appeared for me and I would very much like to know where this plant was collected and if it is deposited in some herbarium, since there is no record for the municipality of Rio de Janeiro since 1935 (Porto & Brade). I would be very grateful if you could inform me as accurately as possible so that I can include in my thesis and collect sheets for molecular analysis of the population. I await your response, thank you in advance.