06/23/2005
First Flowering

In addition to specializing in artificially propagated orchid species, Will, Erich, and I have made many crosses. This is a tale about the first flowering of one of our stranger ones.

On 26 July 2001 I placed pollinia of the Mexican Stanhopea tigrina ‘Traders Point’ AM/AOS on a dark Colombian Gongora chocoensis [both parents are pictured in the Stanhopea section of the catalog]. A fruit developed and was harvested on 22 October 2001, seed germinated, and the seedlings grew well. One precocious plant produced a single flower bud. Slowly the bud grew larger and larger.

On Saturday, 18 June, 2005, almost 4 years after the initial pollination, the bud opened and produced a flower with a natural spread of about 4 inches. The lateral sepals were broad and long, shaped similarly to those of a Stanhopea, canted upward from their base at about a 45 degree angle from the horizontal plane through the center of the flower, and are creamy yellow heavily marked with lines of red spots. The petals, which are very tiny in the Gongora parent, are about 1 inch long and 1/4 inch wide with the same color combination. The 2 inch long lip is waxy, yellow with some red spotting on the hypochile [or base of the lip]. There are two horns on the lip, and the shape is intermediate between that of the two parents. The flower is pleasantly fragrant.

Although there is only one flower on the stem at this time, since both parents have multiple flowers per inflorescence we expect more in future flowerings. At the time of this flowering the pseudobulb is about the size of a small English walnut, and the leaf is about 10 inches long.

This will be the third Stangora to be registered. The other two are:

Stga. Elcimey [Stan. ecornuta x Gga. horichiana] registered in 1984 by C. Horich.

Stga. Ombelle d’Automne [Gga. galatea x Stan. costaricensis] registered in 2004 by M & MF Bourdon.

A name has not yet been decided upon for this new Stangora. However, since the flower has a predatory look to it one possible name could be Stangora Quetzacoatle, for the Astec Feathered Serpent god of Mexico, bringer of knowledge and chocolate to the Aztec people.

We still have some seedlings available [see catalog].