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orchidnick

Bulbophyllum phaelanopsis 'Zuma Canyon' AM/AOS

orchidnick
10 years ago

This is the yet unopened flower of this plant. Couldn't help posting it, can you imagine waking up in the middle of the night and having that thing in your face, or even in your dream? This is one of the six macrobulbons from the Bulbophyllum group . Leaves can get up to 6' long, mine is just a youngster. Bulbo fletcherianum has similar leaves but the flowers are devoid of the little yellow appendages. I guess they are supposed to look like little maggots and along with the enchanting aroma of rotten flesh attract the pollinating flies.

Nick

Comments (14)

  • orchidnick
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    The entire plant. It normally grows in a moist, congested, rather shady area. I brought it out only for greater appreciation. 10 years ago I traded a member one of my awarded B fletcherianum (syn speisii) 'Paul's Fragrance' AM/AOS bulb for one of his Zuma Canyon ones. It took it 10 years to reach this size, has bloomed several times.

    Nick

  • orchidnick
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    This plant was awarded by George Vasquez (owner of Zuma Canyon Orchids) at least 20 years ago. Apparently it caused quite a stir then as these guys were simply not seen. Either the plant or a portion of it was given to Rebecca Northern, a picture of it is in her book. (I'm told) She gave either the whole plant or a piece of it to Chuck Spain who grew it in Long Beach. It was from him that I got apparently 2 bulbs in exchange for 2 bulbs of my fletcherianum. The fletcherianum hasn't bloomed for a while so it's overdue, hopefully it will find it in it's heart to do so soon. It's bigger than the phaelanopsis but still not as big as they are capable of getting.

    I have heard mention of this specific clone from several people across America so pieces of it made it to different growers. 2 people who used to post on this forum stated that they have a piece of it. The guy with whom I made a large swap of Bulbophyllums recently also has a piece of it. It appears to be willing to grow and allow itself to be divided.

    Nick

  • inga007
    10 years ago

    At fist glance I though it rather nice looking, until I read your mention the odor.
    I'm forever amazed, at the variety you grow.
    Thanks for sharing

  • orchidnick
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Today is Oct 6th, our meeting is Oct 18th. That's a 12 day spread. In order to have a better chance of having this stinker in bloom so that everyone can appreciate the delicate, exquisite fragrance, I'm going to bring it into my bedroom before it opens . The reason for this is that the pollinator is our ordinary fly, not some exotic insect not found here. Once it's open and really puts out the signal to come and get me, the flies swarm around it and pollination will take place

    Even though I have never had a seed pod develop in the past, I know that once flowers are pollinated, they tend to fade fairly fast. This is a general truism, not specific to this plant. By preventing pollination, I aim to make the flowers last a little longer and hopefully make it to our meeting.

    Since my olfactory prowess is almost totally shot anyway, having it in my bedroom is no problem. Putting it in the living room might produce objections from some of the more sensitive members of the household who feel weird about the odor of rotten flesh. Some people are strange about that. There is light at the end of the tunnel as one of my Republican friends stated that if they manage to repeal Obamacare, this flower will no longer smell like that. At least now the government shut down makes sense.

    Nick

  • orchidnick
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Finally open

    Nick

  • orchidnick
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    The whole flower stalk, leaf lifted out of the way.

    Nick

  • orchidnick
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    The flowers viewed head on, one needs to look from below to get the open felling.

    Nick

  • orchidnick
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    The under surface, this is one weird character.

    Nick

  • Darlene (GreenCurls)
    10 years ago

    Very odd but interesting blooms. I am certain that your society members will appreciate the view and the fragrance.

  • orchidnick
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Unfortunately orchids are extremely efficient. Does not expend energy on aroma when there are no flies around. It only smells in midday. My orchid society members will have to take my word for it.

    Nick

  • Darlene (GreenCurls)
    10 years ago

    Interesting. I have never thought about bulbos having a limited time to produce fragrance but it makes sense. No pollinators. No stinky smells needed to attract them.

  • orchidnick
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I guess the flies that visited this stinky beauty knew what they were doing. One of the flowers was pollinated and a big pod is developing.

    Nick

  • orchidnick
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I guess the flies that visited this stinky beauty knew what they were doing. One of the flowers was pollinated and a big pod is developing.

    Nick

    {{!gwi}}

  • orchidnick
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    This is the second time a message was posted twice. I noticed someone else had this problem recently.

    I plan to donate the pod to Troy Meyer's Orchid Conservatory. They will try to flask it and, if successful, return one developed flask to me and keep the rest. They will try to do 3 to 4 flasks. They warned me that the pod is very slow to mature and it may be 300 to 385 days before they begin the process. The seedlings will not inherit the award nor the name. They will be called Bulbophyllum phaelanosis Zuma Canyon AM/AOS x self, and will need to be renamed if someone chooses to do this.

    This is a slow process, 7 years plus before new flowers can be viewed. A good incentive for me to keep my Cholesterol in check. If I last long enough I will probably offer these plants for trades.

    Nick

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