Calanthe sylvatica

[Leo Schordje]

An easy to grow evergreen Calanthe. Leaves are attractive pleated green. The flower stem starts blooming in early summer, and continues for at least 3 months. By the time it stops blooming it has had upwards of 30 to 50 flowers. Flower color is hard to describe, it is a soft pale lavender, with a blue tint to it, much like some of the 'blue' Cattleya. I really like how as the flowers fade the lip turns yellow before the flower collapses. I grow it intermediate temps, possibly a little cooler in winter. One year I tried to see how cold tolerant it was, it may take a few degrees of frost without trouble. Gulf Coast & California growers might consider trying it as an outdoor bedding plant.

Calanthe sylvatica
in June when it had just started blooming

Taken end of July, after it has been in bloom for 2 months

The whole plant picture does show I have it potted in a 1 gallon nursery pot.

 

[NYEric]

Nice small plant! oke: Thanks for sharing.

 

[Stone]

Nice Leo! Chinese?

 

[SlipperFan]

Beautiful plant, Leo. I almost killed mine (mealy bugs), but it's starting to come back. My plant's flowers look a little different than yours -- not quite as open and without the red spot on the lip:

I got this plant several years ago at the Chicagoland Orchid Festival, I think from Windsong.

 

[likespaphs]

cool!

 

[cnycharles]

interesting. the lip looks different on the two different clones. I acquired some calanthe seed from a seed bank but don't have any seedlings yet to try and grow

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

Will the real C. sylvatica please stand up?

The difference between Leo's and Dot's plants is simply that they are different. Leo's plant reminds me very much of my own specimen of "Natsuebine" (summer Calanthe) which I know to be of hybrid origin. Dot's plant is more true to C. sylvatica with that weakly lobed lip. Likely Leo's plant is a hybrid involving at least two species, probably C. sylvatica and C. furcata (a strongly bilobed lip species). Regardless, they both are pretty and easy to cultivate and flower.

 

[Leo Schordje]

@ Stone - not certain, it was with a group of plants that a 3rd party had imported from Taiwan, but it was a small seedling, from a nursery, so a hybrid origin is possible.

Thanks Tom, that clears up a mystery for me. Leon G. of the former Hoosier Orchids had suggested this was not a 'pure' sylvatica, but he had no clue, and couldn't tell me more. That this type is a garden plant in Japan fits with how I got the plant. I originally arrive with a tag saying C. tricarinata, which it clearly is not. It was an imported seedling from Taiwan, gotten in a mix bag of plants I got in a trade. By the time the seedling bloomed, the source wasn't around to ask for more information.

Question: How cold hardy is this type of Calanthe? Zone 7 or 6 or 5?

Hi Dot, I like the 'blue' of your plant better than mine. Save me a piece of yours if you ever get around to dividing it. PM me if you want a piece of mine.
Really beautiful photo of your Calanthe.

 

[Paph_LdyMacBeth]

That's a really pretty plant!

Sent from my BlackBerry 9300 using Tapatalk

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

Question: How cold hardy is this type of Calanthe? Zone 7 or 6 or 5?

Hey Leo, this one is not cold hardy even here in my area (zone 9b). It can take temperatures just above freezing, but anything below will fry it. So, I'd rate it zone 10, and if sited well, zone 9b assuming it never sees any frost.

These hybrids show up in the plant markets this time of year. Like complex Paphs, it is difficult to guess the exact parents without direct knowledge. A native plant in the southern islands, C. okinawaensis, is thought to be a hybrid as well - obviously C. sylvatica being one parent, but the other remaining a bit of a mystery.

 

[W. Beetus]

Great Calanthe!

 

[SlipperFan]

@ Stone - not certain, it was with a group of plants that a 3rd party had imported from Taiwan, but it was a small seedling, from a nursery, so a hybrid origin is possible.

Thanks Tom, that clears up a mystery for me. Leon G. of the former Hoosier Orchids had suggested this was not a 'pure' sylvatica, but he had no clue, and couldn't tell me more. That this type is a garden plant in Japan fits with how I got the plant. I originally arrive with a tag saying C. tricarinata, which it clearly is not. It was an imported seedling from Taiwan, gotten in a mix bag of plants I got in a trade. By the time the seedling bloomed, the source wasn't around to ask for more information.

Question: How cold hardy is this type of Calanthe? Zone 7 or 6 or 5?

Hi Dot, I like the 'blue' of your plant better than mine. Save me a piece of yours if you ever get around to dividing it. PM me if you want a piece of mine.
Really beautiful photo of your Calanthe.

Leo, I'll put a tag with your name on it in the pot, but it will be a long time before it can be divided -- as I said, it almost died, but there is now one new growth, so I have hope. A couple years ago, I sent a seed pod to Meyer Conservatory, but I've not heard whether it was viable or not.

 

[Dido]

A really nice one congrats on that.

 

[Leo Schordje]

Thanks Dot, I'm in no hurry. I know we will be swapping plants for years into the future.

Thanks Tom, I will protect this from frosts from here on out. I forgot it once, and I thought it had been out overnight at temps near 32 F, but I may have been lucky those nights, thanks for the info.

 

[SlipperFan]

OK, Leo.