Pleurothallis sp. baeza – 365 days of orchids – day 1809
We have another floriferous Pleurothallis species today, similar to yesterday’s Pleurothallis restrepiodes in growth but with thousands of golden flowers.
We are massive fans of the diverse genus Pleurothallis and some of the species produce massive amounts of flower. This species is one we have yet to positively identify (i will add a close up of a single flower once students return after christmas) but thanks to Mark Wilson who suggests it is a Crocodeilanthe species. Crocodeilanthe has been a section within Pleurothallis that has been separated to a separate genus or included in Stelis. At the moment we are content to keep all our pleurothallis together and not divide the genus. The plant was donated to us with the name baeza which is a town in Ecuador and we therefore assume that the species is native to the cloud forests around Baeza.
The plant has leaves to 50cm high and with up to four flower spikes per leaf gives a terrific display. We grow the species amongst our other Pleurothallis species in Cool Americas (min 12C) with lots of water throughout the year,
Discussion