Catasetum uncatum

bought this plant as catasetum purum but turns out to be catasetum uncatum. seems like another common mistake makes by most people. 

the uncatum has a pointed beak and the lateral labellum is non serrated as in catasetum purum. 

the flower of the uncatum is small, in fact much smaller than i imagined when i first saw the flower myself. height of the flower is slightly over two cm and the with is about once and half cm. it has a faint minty smell. 

this would would be the second wrong id case for this season and thank goodness it is a species catasetum or else i would have to keep another NOID in my collection.

Catasetum gnomus

another wonderful species that is showing off their fist appearance in my garden, and luckily enough they survived through those monkey attacks recently. my garden had been invaded by monkeys for years, and recently the catasetum seems to become part of their 'snack'

a couple days ago, they suffered one of the worst 'attack', i lost a couple of species, thanks to the monkeys.

though heartbreaking.............but instead of focusing on the lost collection and damaged plants, i might as well focus my energy on what is left, to nurture and revive them

life shall go on and must go on.

''mourn on the lost and concentrating on the damaged section, i shall not. focusing my energy to revive what is left and cherish those that is still with me, i will''

 this species has a very long spike, arching to pendang in nature. very interesting and unique labellum. pneumatophores are abundant as shown in first pic here

Catasetum juruense

first time blooming for this species in my collection. the sepals and petals measures to about 3.2cm  and the total flower size is about 6cm across. the labellum is 2cm across with serrated edge. there is a callus at the base of the labellum that has a laminar appearance.

Cynodes Taiwan Gold 'Taiwan Orange'

this hybrid is a cross between Cycnoches chlorochilon and Mormodes badia. the flower has  an extremely fragrant smell in the morning, like most of the catasetinae the smell is the strongest when there is sunlight. the petals and sepals are orangy mustard in color and the labellum has a very dark red coloration.

Catasetum osculatum

bought this plant as Catasetum rivularium but unfortunately it turned out to be catasetum osculatum. the distinguishing feature of this species is the rounded orifice at the labellum that is usually surrounded by dark red rim. the difference with this species and the close relative catasetum saccatum as been describe much earlier.
the spike is pendant in nature, the bracks are widely separated apart, the one that appear in this spike seems to be inconsistently spaced but the widest is about 4cm apart. the flower is about 3 inches wide spread and the labelum is 1 inch across in measurement.

 the lateral sepals are horizontally spread, but should be facing backwards as the flowers matures. there is slight fimbriated structure along the lateral borders of the labellum

close up showing the red rim around the orifice and also the anisoceras structure of the trigger pollina

30/10/2017

the ventral part of the labellum and the beak will arch backwards as the flower matures

Cycnodes Wine Delight

the Wine Delight is a cross between Cycnoches lehmannii and Mormodes sinuata.

would not claim the credit here because the plant has begun to produce spike when i bought it. the pot came with two plants in it, initial intention was to give a part of the plant to a friend but my friend said only to divide it after they finish blooming. some variety is darker in red, some lighter. this is a very old hybrid and perhaps many remake of this cross has been done.

Catasetum viridiflavum

this is the second blooming for viridiflavum. they sulked for sometime after i divided the plant a couple years back. however the joy was short lived as they suffer the same fate previously and this time even worst. the buds never had a chance to bloom, the spike were broken and the buds were partially gnawed by some creatures . 

was able to save one bloom by putting the broken spike end submerged under water. the other bud didn't make it. however i manage to save a pollen !

18/10/2017

this is the second spike from the same plant and for once the spike is left alone by the monkeys. the lateral sepals began to sprung open and the green globous hood starts to show color shades of yellow, both green and yellow color on the hood as implies by its name, viridiflavum.

Catasetum discolor

i posted the discolor quite sometime ago but back then, the spike develop from the dormant bulb and thus the credit wasn't mine to claim at that time. old post of discolor

after manage to revive the infected bulb, it only manage to grow weak bulbs on subsequent growth. slowly regaining its strength, finally the plant came to the stage where it is healthy enough to produce spike.

as previously mentioned, the discolor was once though to be similar to ciliatum but they are actually two different distinct species

the spike of the discolor, they are arching in nature, unlike the ciliatum which is erected.

they have ciliated structure like the ciliatum but lack of the velvety line inside the labellum. 

Catasetum albovirens

got this as a single bulb, rather small bulb actually for a species that is know for being capable of growing to a fairly huge specimen.

the name albovirens is derived from the Latin word albus meaning white and virens (green). i had seen a alba variety of this species, very nice to my liking and hopefully to land one in my collection one day,

the flower is rather small actually, less than an inch, slight fragrance noted,
the labellum is hood shape, lateral labellum is serrated and the tip of the labellum is recurvated, characteristic of the spike is arching.

flower opens up more on subsequent day