I don’t think Masdevallia stroblii has ever been featured on Orchid of the Day.  It has a sweet scent and is native to Ecuador, found in only one valley at 1400 meters above sea level.  It is an epiphyte liking to grow in the crowns of trees where it can get plenty of light.  It was discovered in 1958 growing on a fence post.  Masdevallia stroblii is named after Jose Strobel who was the first to export the orchid.

Our next orchid, Masdevallia Measuresiana is in fact a primary hybrid between Masdevallia tovarensis and Masdevallia and Masdevallia  amabilis.  The hybrid originated at the Saunders Nursery, St Albans where it was bred in 1890. Around for 124 years I think it has earned a mention on our website.

This is a strange looking orchid with cork screw petals.  The name caudivolvula comes from the Latin cauda meaning tail and volvulus meaning twisted organ.   Cool growing Masdevallia caudivolvula is native to high mountain wetlands in Colombia.

My final Masdevallia for today was much admired at our Orchid Christmas.  It is another primary hybrid having parents Masdevallia veitchiana and Masdevallia decumumana.  The flowers are long lasting and very cheerful.

Last July we moved our orchid lab from the sixth form building into the main Writhlington building.  Ergonomically the lab is a much better space than the old one as it is positioned beneath the main prep room making multitasking much easier.  Moving our thousands of seedling orchids in jars was not an easy task but they seem to grow well in their new home.

The room does not have gas but we find that a domestic electric hob works very well for heating our American Canner which we use to sterilise our media. There is also a tap supplying RO water for making the media.

Thanks to our Facilities team at Writhlington, our new lab now sports newly painted olive green walls, new cupboards and worktops.  Lovely choice of colours Mr Howard!  It will be a joy to work in this tranquil, well equipped space.  Thank you very much.

Happy Christmas to all our orchid friends.  Today I have a lovely Masdevallia in flower which has never been featured on Simon’s Orchid of the Day, so here it is for Christmas Day.   It is a cool growing epiphyte, Masdevallia gilbertoi which is native to Colombian cloud forests and is said to tolerate a minimum of 10 degrees celsius.  Masdevallia gilbertoi likes to be kept damp all the time and likes partial shade,  not direct sunlight.

When well cared for this little Masdevallia will reward with these beautiful pink and white flowers.  The first person to cultivate this species was a Colombian, Gilberto Escobar Rodrigo and Masdevallia gilbertoi is named after him.

Masdevallia ivanii is also flowering in my greenhouse for Christmas.  Like Masdevallia gilbertoi it has a long tail on the dorsal sepal.  Unlike Masdevallia gilbertoi this little Masdevallia tail droops. It is thought to have adapted to only allow the correct pollinator to pollinate the flower.  Masdevallia ivanii likes plenty of water, a shady spot and will tolerate temperatures down to 12 degrees Celsius.

The orchid is named after Ivan Acaro, a nurseryman from Ecuador.

The blue Phalaenopsis in all its glory, native to supermarkets all over the country.

They can be found in varying shades of blue and sometimes pink.

Well actually there is no such thing as a blue Phalaenopsis. These are white orchids that have  been dyed to be unnatural colours.  Here is how it is done.  The orchid is injected, into its flower stem, with a dye. Below is a picture showing the spot where this has been done.  The hole is then sealed with wax to prevent infection.

The dye travels up the flower spike via the plants water transport vessels known as xylem.   The water in which the dye is mixed transpires through the stomata, on the underside of the leaves, but the dye is left behind inside the orchid. The white flower turns to blue but not permanently. As the orchid is watered, with clear water, the dye gradually fades and the Phalaenopsis turns white again.

The Phloem in a plant are responsible for carrying food, manufactured through photosynthesis, from the leaves to the roots.  In the Phalaenopsis, shown above, the blue dye has travelled to the orchids roots leaving them, like the flowers, dyed blue.  Phalaenopsis like other epiphytic orchids, with aerial roots, store water in the old cells of the outer part of the root.  These spongy cells are known as velemen and they have been dyed with a blue tint.  Hopefully the roots, like the flowers, will return to their natural colour as the Phalaenopsis takes up fresh , clear water.

A few days ago I stood a piece of celery in blue ink

The photo below shows the blue ink has coloured the celery leaves with a blue tint. The celery has taken up the inky water through the xylem and into the leaves.

A cross section of the celery stem show the coloured dye in the xylem of the stem.

An orchid is a perennial flowering plant belonging to the second largest family of plants, Orchidacea.  The largest plant family is the daisy.  There are said to be around 28,000 species of orchid in the world and they are found on every continent with the exception of Antarctica.  Orchids are the oldest flowering plant known to man and are thought to be one hundred million years old. The word orchid comes from the Greek word Orchis meaning testicle.  They are so named because the fleshy tubers of terrestrial orchids look like male reproductive organs.  To be monorchid means to have only one testicle.

Below is an old botanical drawing of Autumn Lady’s tresses orchid in all its glory.

Orchid flowers are mirrored halves.  This is known as bilateral symmetry. Draw a line down the middle of  an orchid and both sides will mirror the other.  The flower consist of three outer sepals and three petals. The lowest of petal forms the lip of the orchid, larger than the other petals to make a landing platform for pollinators.

The photograph below shows clearly the symmetry with the three sepals and three petals, the lowest petal enlarged to form the lip.  

A feature that differentiates an orchid from other flowers  is that the male stamen and  female pistil are joined together to form a column.   Orchid pollen grains are contained in pollinarium that sit under the anther cap. This is designed to stop self pollination.  Orchid pollen is sticky to attach it the pollinator.

Here you can see the very large lip or insect landing platform, with the column at the back with the pollen cap above.

Orchid seed is the smallest seed in the world.  It has evolved to be light to enable the millions of seeds produced in a pod to be dispersed by wind.  The seed contains only an embryo, no carbohydrate to enable germination.  This means the seed has to find sugar before it can germinate.  It relies on mycorrhizal fungus being present to provide the sugar.   Without the fungus there is no germination.

An orchid seed pod contains millions of seeds 

Orchids can be epiphytic, lithophytic or terrestrial.  Epiphytic orchids grow on other plants but are non- parasitic, taking no nutrients from them instead absorbing nutrients from rain, dust and debri in the air.  The word epiphyte comes from the Greek words epi meaning on and phyte meaning plant.  Lithophytic orchids attach themselves to rocks in a similar way that epiphytes do to trees.   It too comes from Greek Litho meaning stone and phyte meaning a plant.  Terrestrial orchids live on the ground and have roots that live in leaf litter others grow tubers into the ground.  Our British native orchids are terrestrial.   The word terrestrial comes from the Latin terra meaning earth.