Anthurium inventory

I am following up my Encyclia inventory post with an inventory of another genus that comprises a decent portion of my plant collection.  This time it is an aroid genus, Anthurium, which happens to be the largest genus in the Aracaea (Aroid) family.  By "largest genus" I mean the genus with the most species.  I have had several Anthurium flower for me recently, so I have some nice photos to share.

Anth. llewelynii

Anth. bonplandii v. guayanum

Anth. acaule

While I love Aroids, and especially Anthurium, they don't all thrive under my care.  If I go a week (sometimes two) without venturing out to the greenhouse to water my plants - many of them take notice.  My Encyclia and some of my other plants don't mind these dry periods.  My Anthurium collection is not as big as it once was, primarily because there have been more periods of neglect in recent years and only the strong have survived. My collection of Anthurium currently includes 13 species and one hybrid.

Anth. holmnielsenii

Anth. paraguayense

Here is my complete inventory of Anthurium plants:

• Anth. acaule *
• Anth. bonplandii v. guayanum *
• Anth. fornicifolium *
• Anth. gracile *
• Anth. holmnielsenii *
• Anth. hookeri *
• Anth. lezamai
• Anth. llewelynii *
• Anth. lucidum (or something else...)
• Anth. paraguayense *
• Anth. plowmanii
• Anth. scandens *
• Anth. scandens *
• Anth. verapazense *
• Anth. Marie
• Anth. Marie
• Anth. (unidentified seedling)

* indicates plants which have flowered for me

Anthurium lucidum?

You'll notice that I'm not so sure my plant which is labeled Anthurium lucidum is actually that species.  I looked at the photographs on Tropicos and they look very different from my plant, so I'm not really sure what I have.

Anth. fornicifolium

Anthurium Marie is a hybrid that Steve Nock developed and named after his wife.  I have had the pleasure of meeting both Steve and Marie at the IAS shows in Miami.  Steve and Marie own Ree Gardens and have been longtime members and supporters of the society.  They always have some really nice plants for sale at the shows.  The parentage of this hybrid has not been made public, as far as I am aware.  The plant has been widely tissue cultured and many of the plants develop inflorescences with two spadices and other oddities.

Anth. gracile

In addition, I have one unidentified seedling.  It is still pretty small and may be some time before it is large enough to flower and help me determine what it is.

Encyclia inventory

Over time my collection of plants changes quite a bit. I buy new plants and other plants perish. At times I have tried to keep a comprehensive inventory, but my commitment to keep that inventory updated doesn't last and it gets to a point where it is so far behind I almost feel I need to start over.

E. tampensis v. alba

E. atrorubens?
This plant is labeled as E. guatemalensis, but that is not a recognized species.

E. tampensis
This plant FINALLY bloomed this year after having been in my collection for almost 6 years.
You'll notice it looks very similar to the first plant pictured in this post, except the first plant is lacking the pink,
since it is the "alba" variety.

Recently I decided to inventory my plants in groups. I'm starting with my collection of Encyclia, which is probably the genus of which I have the most plants. It's fun to post this list now because a lot of them are blooming or bloomed recently.  It turns out I have more than 35 Encyclia plants, consisting of 22 species and10 known hybrids.  (I know, 22 and 10 do not add up to 35, but I have a couple of duplicates and a couple of unknowns.)

Complete inventory of Encyclia species:

• E. angustiloba 
• E. aspera
• E. aspera
• E. belizensis **
• E. cordigera
• E. fowliei x fowliei 'Duncan'
• E. fucata
• E. gracilis
• E. guatemalensis * (may actually be E. atrorubens)
• E. hanburyi 'Mem. Merlin Rigley'
• E. kennedyi
• E. moebusii
• E. navanjapatensis
• E. patens
• E. phoenicea
• E. plicata **
• E. polybulbon
• E. ramonense 'Dr Pepper' **
• E. randii
• E. seidelii *
• E. tampensis *
• E. tampensis v. alba **
• E. unaensis

* indicates a species that has bloomed for me

** indicates a species that blooms regularly for me

I'm not a complete species purist, but I do concentrate on collecting species.  Most of my hybrids are ones that I acquired in eBay auctions of multiple plants, and they were bundled with species I was interested in purchasing.  In all I have 12 hybrid orchids that include Encyclia among the parents or grandparents.

Complete inventory of Encyclia hybrids:

• E. Faerie Glen (diota x mooreana) *
• E. John Brunton (mooreana x tampensis)
• E. phoenicea x tampensis
• E. tampensis v. alba 'Mendenhall' x plicata 'Cherokee'
• E. Cindy x dickinsoniana
• E. Orchid Jungle (alata x phoenicea)
• E. Gay Rabbit ([alata x cordigera] x cordigera) *
• E. (unidentified hybrid potted with Gay Rabbit) *
• E. (unidentified, possibly Grand Bahama)
• Epy. Mabel Kanda (E. cordigera x Epi. paniculatum) *
• Epc. Siam Jade (C. Penny Kuroda x Epc. Vienna Woods)
• Eplc. Pixie Charm (Lc. Pixie x E. alata)

* indicates a species that has bloomed for me

Epy. Mabel Kanda
An intergeneric hybrid between Epidendrum and Encyclia.
I had to look up the correct abbreviation for this one in the RHS register.

E. Faerie Glen
This is a new plant that I just purchased at Santa Barbara Orchid Estate when I was in California in March.

The hybrids are a mix bag of primary hybrids (a pure species crossed with another species), multi-generation hybrids, and even intergeneric (plants from different genus being crossed) hybrids.  A lot of Encyclia are used in orchid hybridization, especially crossing with Cattleya, Laelia, and Epidendrum.  You'll notice that Mabel Kanda hybrid is a cross of an Encyclia and an Epidendrum, while Siam Jade is a second generation intergeneric hybrid - a Cattleya crossed with a hybrid of an Encyclia and a Cattleya.

Unidentified Encyclia hybrid

The Encyclia above is a mystery because it is in a pot labeled Enc. Gay Rabbit. There are a lot of pseudobulbs in the pot and I have actually had two concurrent spikes with different flowers.  One set of flowers has a white lip with some dark pink streaking (as shown in the photo), while the other flowers have a solid pink lip.  I believe one is correctly labeled Gay Rabbit and the other (pictured above) may be something different.  It is also possible that both are the same hybrid from the same parents and they are just displaying some of the variation expected for this hybrid.

I have one other plant that is missing a label.  I am pretty certain it is an Encyclia species or hybrid, because the pseudobulbs and growth habit match and it is sitting with all of my other Encyclia.  Based on my past records, I think it may be E. Grand Bahama (tampensis x plicata).  I'm going to put that tentative label on it for now.