Phrag. ecuadorense 'Charlie' - whole plant shot.

[Phrag-Plus]

Very nice!

 

[Clark]

Very nice!

 

[etex]

Very well grown! The bloom is very intricate and amazing! Great foliage! Definately a favorite!! Thanks for showing us!

 

[Drorchid]

Very nice flower and plant!

I believe most taxonomists, including Julian Shaw (the orchid registrar from the RHS) consider Phrag. ecuadorense a synonym of Phrag pearcei. Unfortunatley there are some plants out there (including ecuadorense 'Birchwood') that are actually Phrag. richteri (natural hybrid between pearcei and boissierianum), so when plants got registered in the past with ecuadorense as one of the parents it is unknown if it actually was richteri or pearcei.

Your plant looks more like a straight pearcei.

Robert

 

[tomkalina]

Hi Robert,

Not sure where you're getting your information, but the plant awarded as Phrag. ecuadorense `Birchwood' HCC/AOS on June 4, 1988 is not Phrag. richteri. The horizontal natural spread of the P. ecuadorense `Birchwood' clone was only 5.7 cm when awarded, while the median natural spread of all awarded Phrag. richteri Roeth -Gruss, is 8.0 cm - or 40% larger. The largest Phrag. richteri awarded had a natural spread of 13.5 cm - thanks no doubt to the influence of P. boissierianum in it's background. Further, the plant habit of the `Birchwood' clone is small and grass-like, almost like P. longifolium v gracile, while Phrag. richteri is a much larger and robust plant; something you'd expect given the boissierianum influence.

Cheers,

 

[NYEric]

The pot size is in the original description above the photos. It's a very miniature plant.

:rollhappy:
Bahhaahaa! that's a 4" pot I have to get some of these, thanx.

 

[Drorchid]

Hi Robert,

Not sure where you're getting your information, but the plant awarded as Phrag. ecuadorense `Birchwood' HCC/AOS on June 4, 1988 is not Phrag. richteri. The horizontal natural spread of the P. ecuadorense `Birchwood' clone was only 5.7 cm when awarded, while the median natural spread of all awarded Phrag. richteri Roeth -Gruss, is 8.0 cm - or 40% larger. The largest Phrag. richteri awarded had a natural spread of 13.5 cm - thanks no doubt to the influence of P. boissierianum in it's background. Further, the plant habit of the `Birchwood' clone is small and grass-like, almost like P. longifolium v gracile, while Phrag. richteri is a much larger and robust plant; something you'd expect given the boissierianum influence.

Cheers,

I may be mistaken about the clone 'Birchwood', but I got the info from Phragweb:
http://www.phragweb.info/phragmipedium/species/display_species_phrag.asp?phrag_id=223

So, if it is not richteri do you think 'Birchwood' is in-fact a pearcei, or do you consider ecuadorense to be a true species?

Robert

 

[tomkalina]

Hi Robert,

Unfortunately, it's not only possible, but quite probable that the terms Phrag. ecuadorense, pearcei and x richteri have been used interchangeably for hybrid registration purposes for quite some time, because I'm not sure most hybridizers can identify the differences between the three entities when it comes to flower form or color or plant size.

I've always considered the species with the smallest flowers and smallest plant habit to be the "true" Phrag. pearcei, and since Phrag, ecuadorense exhibits the smallest of both characteristics, I consider it to be con-specific with Phrag. pearcei, but not Phrag. x richteri.

Since P. x richteri is considered to be a natural hybrid between P. pearcei and P. boissierianum, I'd expect the largest flowered, most robust plants to be Phrag. x richteri. Unfortunately, it is not possible to determine a clear dividing line between pearcei and x richteri, because it all depends how much boissierianum there is in the background of the particular clone i.e larger flower/larger plant = more boissierianum.

Thanks,

Tom