Pleurothallids

[Paul T]

Howdy All,

I couldn't work out where to put this little gem, so I started this topic for the Pleurothallid family (Masdevalias, Pleurothallis etc).  If anyone has a better place for this then please feel free to recommend it (or if a moderator, shift it).....

This is Pleurothallis schiedei, a strange little thing that sort of looks a bit like a spider body with weird little white dangly things that move in the slightest breeze (a bit like little chandelier crystals).  The whole flower is maybe 1cm across.  Very different, and I hadn't expected to succeed with it to be honest.  I paid far too much for it at the time, but I am thrilled to have now had since last year, and have it coming back into flower again.  Yeah!!  

Please click on the pic for a larger version.  If pics are too large, please let me know.

[Paddy Tobin]

Paul,

What an extraordinary flower; never saw the likes before.

Paddy

[Paul T]

Paddy,

Neither had I, until I saw and bought it.    The stem keeps producing flowers for a while too, so it isn't like a single flower on the end of the stem..... it produces another bud, then another.. etc.  I have 3 or 4 stems forming at the moment, with just the one with a flower open as yet.

[Ragged Robin]

What a flower, 1cm with all those fancy bits,    Your Macro shot certainly shows it off to perfection, Paul  

Can you show the whole plant ?

Looking up this lovely thing I came across this amazing gallery of images - do you know it?

http://www.pbase.com/glazemaker/pleurothallis

[Brian Ellis]

What an amazing flower Paul.  I'm glad you didn't lose it.

[David Nicholson]

You've improved my education yet again Paul, that's another one I hadn't heard of before.

[Giles]

Pleurothallis schiedei    .....  now Stelis villosa.
(they realised that 'Pleurothallis' was just a dustbin of little weird jobs, and have split them up in to natural groupings now. There are thousands of species.......there is an American who has made a career of sorting them all out, and Icones Pleurothallidinarum had reached its 29th volume, last time I looked .....so don't even think of a National Collection  )

[Paul T]

Robin,

I'll take a pic of the whole plant for you today.

Giles,

Thanks for the name correction (I've updated the original posting, but the image is still spelt incorrectly).  I misread the tag, obviously enough.    I didn't realise it had had a name change..... but I might wait a while before changing the name, in case they change it back again as so often happens in orchids.    I love these little quirky things, although the Masdevallias themselves are sometimes a bit of a struggle for me (mainly with heat in summer unfortunately).  I grow any that I have inside under lights, as the house is cool enough to allow them to survive.  I had a reasonable collection of about 20 of them that I lost over 10 days a few years ago..... we had a week of 36 to 41'C and the hosue just heated up too much for them.  Have had better insulation installed since then, so I have started to collect a few of them again.  For those who don't know, so many of these plants find it terminal when they get much above 28'C (mine have had higher than that, but briefly).  I certainly proved that warmth will kill them the year I lost the whole collection in one go. 

[Giles]

You might already have come across these:
http://www.pleurothallids.com/
and for some nice pictures of Teagueia:
http://www.loujost.com/index.htm
and somewhat embarrassingly if you have any queries about a particular species I have all 29 volumes of Icones 

[cohan]

a fascinating group of plants for sure; i did have a few miniature orchids, grown indoors, some years ago, pre- a couple of moves...
my problem is watering enough...lol
plus, they are MUCH  more expensive to acquire than cacti, for example!

[DavMac]

There is a nice party trick you can do with S. villosa and a comb. Create a static electrical charge on the comb and bring it near the "hairs" on the flower and watch them move. It will entertain the kids (and the not-so-young  ) for ages.

David

[David Nicholson]

You might already have come across these:
http://www.pleurothallids.com/
and for some nice pictures of Teagueia:
http://www.loujost.com/index.htm
and somewhat embarrassingly if you have any queries about a particular species I have all 29 volumes of Icones 

........ and the anorak Giles?

[Giles]

..no, I'm far too busy with my collection of bus tickets to go out and buy an anorac..

[David Nicholson]

 

[Paul T]

Robin,

As requested, here is a pic of the whole plant of Pleurothallus shiedei.  Not much to look at really.    Another flower is about to open at the moment.  The other one didn't last that long, which is strange as they seemed to last quite a long time last year. 

Also attached are a couple of pics of Dryadella zebrina.  One showing more of the plant, and the other a closeup of the flower with flash to show up some of the colours more strongly etc.  Another teeny tiny thing with flowers only a cm across.

Enjoy.

Please click on the pic for a larger version.  If pics are too large, please let me know.