Epidendrum magnoliae

[mrhappyrotter]

Epidendrum magnoliae aka Epidendrum conopseum.

This is the "large form" form Andy's, I'm still hoping and waiting to get the North Carolina form from him if/when those become available. I like this species because it's the only epiphytic orchid species that occurs this far north. Though its North Carolina range is very limited and it only occurs naturally in the extreme southern coastal regions of the state as far as I'm aware.

Photos aren't the best, but my skills and the camera on my phone are ... regrettable.

This has been pretty easy to grow and bloom. I've had it several years and it seems to bloom reliably. I've mostly grown it indoors, but last year I built a greenhouse, so I grew it out there all winter. It did experience some growths dying back this winter. I don't know if I kept it too dry or if this particular form isn't the most cold hardy. But overall, it's still putting on a nice show.

The flowers are nocturnally fragrant. They pretty much smell exactly like 4 o'clocks. They're fairly strongly scented, you can definitely smell them from several feet (1+m) away. In past years, I've gotten more of a grape candy scent, but I'm not smelling that so much this year.

 

[Ray]

When I had “the big freeze” in 1994, this was the first replacement plant, given tome by a friend’s father, who had collected it in Central America decades before.

 

[DrLeslieEe]

Good blooms.

I wasn’t aware Epidendrums exist in North Carolina state? Are you sure?

 

[GuRu]

.... I like this species because it's the only epiphytic orchid species that occurs this far north. Though its North Carolina range is very limited and it only occurs naturally in the extreme southern coastal regions of the state as far as I'm aware.......

I dindn't know and expect an epiphyticly growing orchid so far north. Nice flowers at any rate.

 

[Tony]

Good blooms.

I wasn’t aware Epidendrums exist in North Carolina state? Are you sure?

https://plants.usda.gov/home/plantProfile?symbol=EPMA3

 

[Ricardo Boricua]

An interesting plant, that can endure more cold than almost any epiphytic orchid.

 

[DrLeslieEe]

https://plants.usda.gov/home/plantProfile?symbol=EPMA3

Incredible. Wonder if native or invasive?

 

[Ray]

That distribution map makes me wonder about the source of that info, or maybe its age. It shows it as being native.

It could be that it was once found in NC, probably in coastal swamp areas.

It’s remarkable how being near a large body of water moderates the temperatures. We live on a barrier island in the southeastern part of the state, and we are usually 5 degrees (F) different (cooler in summer, warmer in winter) the nearby meteorological reporting station, 2 miles inland.

 

[mrhappyrotter]

Incredible. Wonder if native or invasive?

It's considered native, rather than introduced. It basically occurs in all the southeastern states (with NC being the northernmost end of its range) along the Atlantic coast.

Although it is quite possible that its range is expanding, not because it is invasive or being artificially introduced, but more due to the fact that the climate is warming and winters are trending towards being more mild. For example, where I'm located used to be solidly zone 7b, but more recently has been reclassified as zone 8a.

Either way, I wouldn't expect it to spread far and wide in this state. Our western mountain region is likely too cold. The inland Piedmont regularly experiences summer dry spells and periodic droughts that would probably make things difficult for a small epiphyte like this long term without human intervention.

 

[Arne]

That distribution map makes me wonder about the source of that info, or maybe its age. It shows it as being native.

It could be that it was once found in NC, probably in coastal swamp areas.

It’s remarkable how being near a large body of water moderates the temperatures. We live on a barrier island in the southeastern part of the state, and we are usually 5 degrees (F) different (cooler in summer, warmer in winter) the nearby meteorological reporting station, 2 miles inland.

The distribution seems correct according to the probably most updated site for native orchids:
https://goorchids.northamericanorchidcenter.org/species/epidendrum/magnoliae/

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

I remember first seeing this species in Florida growing on a live oak (Quercus virginiana) at a rest stop along I-75 as a teenager. This definitely is a native of much of coastal S.E. USA. See BONAP's county level distribution map for the species. The yellow shows the plant as being present, native and rare. Green is present and not rare. Neat little plant.

https://bonap.net/MapGallery/County/Epidendrum conopseum.png

 

[mrhappyrotter]

I took several additional photos today. Hopefully these are a little better.

 

[Ray]

The distribution seems correct according to the probably most updated site for native orchids:
https://goorchids.northamericanorchidcenter.org/species/epidendrum/magnoliae/

That’s just the same distribution map from the USDA.

 

[BrucherT]

someone should just pop off seed pod from NC.

 

[Tony]

someone should just pop off seed pod from NC.

Finding them is the hard part. I haven't seen one yet here in SC, my plants are from FL.

 

[mrhappyrotter]

someone should just pop off seed pod from NC.

When I inquired about this plant, the employee at Andy's mentioned they had the NC variety as well. However, after I said I'd take one, they realized they didn't have any ready for sale but would eventually. I suppose I should follow up as it's been a couple of years and I've not seen it show up on their website in that time.