Stanhopea
 Stanhopea |
If you are looking for the unusual looking flower, a Stanhopea orchid will do just fine. These flowers are extremely strange looking, giving the impression of a brown speckled yellow bird of prey swooping down on an unlucky victim. They also have a very strong fragrance; the scent of a single blossom can fill a large greenhouse - unfortunately, not always pleasing. They bloom generally from late summer into fall but even though the individual flower, average spread about 15 – 20 cm across, is of heavy substance with a glossy, wax like finish, it will last only about a week. If any of your friends invite you to “come and have a look at my Stanhopea”, you better go there right away, before the flowers fade and collapse.
The taxonomists have whittled down the number of true species of Stanhopeas to about 25. They have realized that just because a flower has a different colour, it does not deserve separate species status. Their natural habitat is the area from Mexico south through Central America and to Brazil and they are supposed to be of easy culture – if you have the space.
Stanhopeas like to grow in intermediate temperature: during spring, summer and fall they need plenty of water and fertilizer; in the winter they need a rest period with just enough moisture to keep them from drying out. Temperatures can also be a little cooler during winter, but all year round they need about as much light as the Phalaenopsis, which is medium bright light – no hot scorching sun to burn their 40cm long, ribbed leaves. During Summer (on the West Coast) they can be hung into trees in the garden; just make sure to eradicate any bugs on them before returning them to the growing room. Stanhopeas always produce their flower stalks growing from the bottom of the plant downwards; this works quite well in nature, where the plants grow on top of branches and the flowers can hang down freely. For many years, attempts at growing these flowers in a greenhouse failed until an apprentice gardener accidentally broke a pot and found old flower stalks growing around and around the bottom of the pot in unsuccessful attempts to grow downwards. From then on, Stanhopeas were planted in pots without bottoms, in slatted wooden baskets or in 4 cm-mesh wire containers.
The first record of this plant was written by the Jesuit monk Francisco Hernandez. King Philipp II of Spain had ordered him to organize an expedition (1571 -1577) to study and describe the flora and fauna of New Spain (Mexico); in his book Hernandez described these plants and called them by their Inca name: “Coatzonte Coxoahite”. I suppose we are lucky that eventually the genus was named after Count Stanhope, the president of the London medico-botanical society, by Sir. W. Hooker in the year 1829. Of course, in their native countries, these plants have other names like “Torito” (Little Bull), because most Stanhopeas have on their already fantastically constructed lip two little horns (to guide the pollinating insects); this also leads to another name, “Ox-head Flower”. Another name - and I am not sure I really want to know the reason for this is “Mother in Law’s Flower” – could it be the exciting fragrance?
Ingrid Schmidt-Ostrander - Canadian Orchid Congress