Battle of the birds...!!

[paphioboy]

see for yourself... an unknown Gongora specie/hybrid that just bloomed today. that's what they look like to me.. each flower resembles an origami predatory bird poised for attack... there are 17 flowers on a single, nearly 2 foot long spike . can anyone please ID this for me? thanks..

a single 'bird':

a few of them 'fighting':

more:

a flock (or 'string') of birds:

and whole plant:

 

[TheLorax]

That does look like a bunch of hummingbirds! Love it.

 

[Rick]

That's very cool Paphioboy.:clap:

You should send some pictures on to Troy Meyers, and see if he can ID this thing for you.

He is a Gongora nut

It looks very close to atropurpurea, but there is also a G. pseudatropurpurea which is very similar but shows faint spotting instead of the solid red.

 

[Heather]

These and Stanhopeas (are they related at all?) totally remind me of hummingbirds or teradactyl type creatures.

 

[paphioboy]

thanks, Rick..!

 

[JeanLux]

Great flowering, good pictures!!. Jean

 

[goldenrose]

Good one!

 

[NYEric]

Poisonous "Red Death" plant! The nocturnal fumes melt the mucous membranes. Move the plant away from your windows!

 

[TheLorax]

Translation-
Don't risk melting your mucous membranes. Ship the plant to NYEric so he can hang it in front of one of his windows in New York City where the fumes emitted from the plant can mix with the fumes from the streets below.

 

[Grandma M]

I love it. I would even be willing to run the risk of the fumes. I have never seen it before and would buy it if I ever see one.

 

[NYEric]

AKA: Cheap High! When I was a bridge painting inspector that's what the workers called the toulene and other chemicals we worked with. Oh how I cheerfully remember the days of burning eyeballs and almost falling off the Triborough bridge. :crazy:

 

[paphioboy]

hha.. no toxic fumes on this gongora... i even sniffed it.. a weak, spicy fragrance, rather like brassavola nodosa..

 

[dave b]

Very nice. Possibly Gongora ilense? There are a couple hybrids with red form also. Check Hoosier Orchids site for 2 of them. Also came across this...www.hejstorczyki.pl/prezentacje_07/stanhopea_tkusibab/prelekcja_tkusibab_stanhopea_krakow_07.htm. Though it needs translation, at a quick glance its one of the most thorough Stanhopeinae sites ive seen. Though not much help for your red form here!

 

[Rick]

Very nice. Possibly Gongora ilense? There are a couple hybrids with red form also. Check Hoosier Orchids site for 2 of them. Also came across this...www.hejstorczyki.pl/prezentacje_07/stanhopea_tkusibab/prelekcja_tkusibab_stanhopea_krakow_07.htm. Though it needs translation, at a quick glance its one of the most thorough Stanhopeinae sites ive seen. Though not much help for your red form here!

There were two other red species on this site, gibba and clavidora. I don't think either of these are in Jay's Orchid Encyclopedia. One thing that is not matching is that all of the species photos have red ovaries as well as the flower, and Paphioboy's flower has green ovaries.

Clavidora and ilense is on Jay's site. And ilense does look like it may have greener ovaries. Their is noticeable spotting on the columns of these species, which is hard to see in Paphioboy's photos. Can you get a clear closeup of a flower from a few angles?

 

[paphioboy]

Here you go, Rick! this is the best I can do.. hope you can ID it now... thanks again..

p/s: could it possibly be a hybrid instead? (",)

 

[goldenrose]

Good job with the closeups! Hope it can be ID'd, it's lovely either way!