Brassoepidendrum Green Dragon

[mrhappyrotter]

Brassoepidendrum Green Dragon Epidendrum magnoliae (syn Epidendrum conopseum) × Brassavola nodosa

I think I've posted this before, but it's worth another mention. The flowers aren't the greatest quality, but this is a hybrid that I highly recommend to almost anybody who might enjoy this type of thing. This plant produced dozens of spikes over the course of the fall and winter, and now again, it's spiking up! Super floriferous. It's small growing and easy to grow and flower. The flowers may not be the showiest, but they are neat in their own way if you like this sort of thing.

I grew it indoors in the winter, but it's now outside my my 10 X 16 ft (3m x 5 m) greenhouse. Despite other nocturnally fragrant flowers in the vicinity, as soon as I open the door, this is the plant I smell first. The flowers smell exactly like Brassavola nodosa, just not quite as powerful. On the flip side, they are scented day and night, though they are strongest during the evening.

Overall, I think this is a fantastic hybrid if you value fragrance over showiness of flowers.

 

[Ozpaph]

well grown

 

[Linus_Cello]

Where'd you get this from? Is this also LA Orchid Co.?

 

[mrhappyrotter]

Where'd you get this from? Is this also LA Orchid Co.?

It did come from Louisiana Orchid Connection. I've had this plant for quite some time at this point, but I feel like these still turn up on his site and E-bay listings from time to time.

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

I love it. I wonder just how cold it can withstand. I know E. magnoliae is one of the most cold hardy of all epiphytic orchids. I'd love to get a piece!

 

[big923cattleya]

Not every orchid hybrid has to grow into and produce award quality flowers. But a hybrid like this has other, more superior attributes.
Easy to bloom
Grows like a weed
Fragrance is incredible
And will quite possibly thrive in any number of conditions
In my book, that makes this a wonderful hybrid! In my mind, I kind of put it in the same class as Bc. Maikai or maybe Yellow Bird. They kind of grow like weeds, bloom like crazy and are just a treat to see. Congratulations on a job well done.

 

[mrhappyrotter]

I love it. I wonder just how cold it can withstand. I know E. magnoliae is one of the most cold hardy of all epiphytic orchids. I'd love to get a piece!

If I can manage to make a small division from this plant over the summer, I intend to test its cold hardiness a bit this coming winter. I'm guessing it will be able to handle near freezing night lows in winter.

Last year I built a small greenhouse with the intention of keeping it slightly above frost/freezing in order to house things like Cymbidiums and other cold tolerant tropicals over winter.

I mostly stuck to plants I was confident would tolerate or appreciate the lows, such as a Epi. magnoliae. However, I also tested out a small number of other tropicals to see how they would do, and I was surprised how well the Cattleya alliance test subjects handled the cold. For instance, things like my Epicattleya Kyoguchi actually continued to grow and develop new roots during the winter. Another of my test subjects was a hybrid, which I believe is C. Fulvescens x C. Richard Mueller (I don't have the label in front of my so going by memory there). It also handled the cold just fine.