This is another orchid in bloom right now.
Another orchid id
A close up of the flowers. This one does has roots and has run along the log from the mother plant.
Thanks in advance!
This is a type of Epidendrum, Butterfly Orchid.
Mahalo Dave - off to find out how to take care of it now I have the name.
Looks like what are called "Crucifix Orchids" here, Epidendrum species. A lot of different colours have been bred. I think they're a tropical highland plant, I did see them wild in Papua New Guinea in the mountains. They won't grow for me here in the lowland tropics. That might vary with different species, but the ones my father grew abundantly just wasted away here.
Aloha Tropic,
Thanks for the info - I am keeping my fingers X'ed as it made it through last summer okay, I wonder if you are warmer or more humid than I am here on Maui?
I had a quick look at the Weather Underground site. I'm much closer to the equator than you, but not on an island. Our maximum temps are higher and the minimums are pretty close. The sea surface temps are much higher here as well. Rainfall here is strongly seasonal, our dry season is really dry, but wet/monsoon season (less than 6 months) we get just about 2000 mm.
If it survived without any set back it's probably going to be okay. When I got mine it went into a steady decline. I got a Dendrobium speciosum with it. The Dendrobium flowered madly at first but the main pseudobulbs declined and withered. They were replaced by tiny ones that persisted for a couple of years and then disappeared. It's made me wary of taking plants out of their comfort zone.
Thanks Tropic - I am enjoying watching it bloom, but won't be devastated if it croaks - as you say it's way out of it's natural environment. What a sight they must be when they are growing in the wild...
Braveheartsmom, I saw a lot of them in the ground around Hilo. I know they can be grown as epyphites, but most are terrestials. I have a couple that have been in large pots of coarse bark for years. They bloom almost year round, and take our hot, dry summers, as well as the cold, wet winters. I've been told that some of the newer hybrids won't take the cold that the species take. We'll see. I bought one last fall and it has taken nights in the mid 30s with no ill effects, so far.
If you cruise around upcountry Maui (Kula & Ulupalakua), you will see that a few folks grow Epidendrum as hedges.
I love your pretty little Ochids!
Jeanne