Sagisou, the egret herb

KyushuCalanthe · Aug 14, 2009

Flowering season for native orchids is coming to a close here, except for a couple Goodyera species. Here is a true summer bloomer, Pecteilis radiata, in flower now:

This species is common in cultivation these days, but in the wild it is an endangered plant. Life can be ironic.

Heather · Aug 14, 2009

One of my favorites! Thank you Tom.

NYEric · Aug 14, 2009

Lovely, but can you post a photo of the whole plant to show the growth habit please?

Jorch · Aug 14, 2009

it's beautiful! :clap:

Hien · Aug 14, 2009

KyushuCalanthe said:
This species is common in cultivation these days, but in the wild it is an endangered plant. Life can be ironic.

I strongly believe that CITES should forbid peoples to grow this endangered species to protect it :evil:

:evil:

KyushuCalanthe · Aug 14, 2009

NYEric said:
Lovely, but can you post a photo of the whole plant to show the growth habit please?

Always a wise guy in the bunch :viking: Here's the clump a couple years ago when it flowered best. The plants grew pretty well this year, but there were few flowers - my bad, they were grown a bit too dry last year. Yes, these are variegated forms:

Hien, this is one that should be in gardens since the species has gotten rarer mostly through habitat loss - the places this species favored happened to be the same places people made rice fields. Now it is mostly found in mountain bogs here and there. On the other hand, many Calanthe, Ponerorchis, Amitostigma, Cypripedium, Liparis, etc. are going extinct because of over collection, not so much due to habitat loss. So, go figure.

SlipperFan · Aug 14, 2009

Wow, Tom! Please share cultural secrets. I think I have a tendency to keep mine too wet, and they rot.

KyushuCalanthe · Aug 14, 2009

SlipperFan said:
Wow, Tom! Please share cultural secrets. I think I have a tendency to keep mine too wet, and they rot.

A fine balance is needed Dot - not too wet, not too dry; perhaps a bit wetter than just moist. Some people recommend growing them in live sphagnum, but mine are in a mix of kanuma (perlite will do), peat moss, and a taste of river sand. The ratio should be around 3 parts perlite to 1 part peat and a "handful" of sand. They like morning sun, but then full brilliant light during the heat of the day. Summer temps into the low 90's is fine. Mine grow until early November then I remove the new tubers and store in the fridge for the winter in slightly damp vermiculite. Plant again in April.

Also very important - protect the developing flower buds from little nasties like thrips and spider mites. I spray periodically when in bud to protect them.

Eric Muehlbauer · Aug 14, 2009

How would they do in a bog garden with Sarracenia, Drosera, and Dionaea?

Hien · Aug 14, 2009

The full photo looks amazing

KyushuCalanthe · Aug 14, 2009

Eric Muehlbauer said:
How would they do in a bog garden with Sarracenia, Drosera, and Dionaea?

Unfortunately Eric they always seem to dwindle under normal bog garden conditions. That's why I remove them from the pot in winter to give then a nice, continous, "dry" rest. Once I planted one out in the open garden just for kicks - it grew, but went dormant midsummer, so I wrote it off. The next year I was weeding that area and I pulled the darn thing up along with some grass. Too bad, the damage I did was fatal and it had a flower spike too! Interesting...

P-chan · Aug 15, 2009

That's one that I love seeing! Nice! Thanks.

JeanLux · Aug 15, 2009

a beauty with a lip like eagle's wings!!!! Jean

SlipperFan · Aug 15, 2009

Thanks, Tom. I think my mix has too much peat in it. I'll have to adjust that and maybe take it out of S/H.

emydura · Aug 15, 2009

That is just amazing Tom. I love it. One of the best terrestrials I have seen. I can't say I have heard of it or seen it before. Not sure if you can get it here in Australia.

David

Sagisou, the egret herb

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