Telipogon collantesii

[naoki]

I got this Telipogon collantesii from Peruflora in May 2014 (Redland). There aren't so many photos/info of this species on the web. It seems to be endemic to Peru. The flower of mine is similar to photos of IOSPE and a book (Orchids: Species of Peru by Harry Zelenko and Pablo Bermúdez), but if you can tell me whether the ID is correct or not (and whatever info), I appreciate it.

It attempted to bloom in the summer (around Aug), but the buds got blasted (the plant wasn't completely acclimated). But soon it made next round of inflorescence. This time it flowered successfully. It's been only seven months under my condition, so I don't know if I can keep it alive for longer. Probably I got lucky with this vigorous individual; the roots grow really rapidly. I previously posted the pre-bloom photo of this plant in Gary's (Thithor) thread. I probably want to dissect this flower, but I'll try to self-fertilize the next flower if I get a chance.


Telipogon collantesii on Flickr


Telipogon collantesii flower backside on Flickr

Telipogon collantesii close-up on Flickr


Telipogon collantesii hook on Flickr


Telipogon collantesii plant on Flickr

I didn't have my usual photo gears with me, and I had only 15 min. to take photos (my son was waiting for me to go to New Year's Eve fireworks), so I'm not completely happy with the photos. The color is slightly too yellow (leaves aren't really yellowish like the last plant photo), DOF is too shallow etc.

Current culture condition:

Temperature: 20C day, 9C night
Relative Humidity: constant 80%
Light: 13h day, photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) of 120 micromol/m^2/s from florescent light
Water: RO water from MistKing twice a day (50 seconds each), the roots dry completely before watering.
Fertilizer etc.: Dyna-Gro Grow at 20ppmN + equal amount of Dyna-Gro ProTeKt + Seaplex Kelp (1TBS/gallon) + 4 tablets of 325mg aspirin per gallon. I spray this mixture about 2-3 times per week. Very recently I started to add 2TBS/gallon of "activated" EM-1.
Mounted on 3cm diameter Chokecherry branch (from my garden) with minimum sphag.

 

[Secundino]

Oh wow, that is a great beginning of the year. Thanks for sharing!

 

[NYEric]

If it's putting out new growths it should be Okay.

 

[Rick]

That's awesome Naoki. Keep it going!!!!

I'm also working on a Teli from Pleuroflora. The larger growths died back, but the younger growths seem to be making headway. I'm not able to get in the 50's at night like you, so we'll see

 

[JeanLux]

They are soo unique within the orchids' flowering range !!!! Jean

 

[Ozpaph]

The colour maybe off a little but the detail in the photos of such a time flower is exceptional - well done.
An amazing species.

 

[naoki]

Thank you all, I'm very happy to see the flower, indeed! Rick, are you growing in the greenhouse with Paphs? Did it handle TN heat in the summer? Which species are you growing? This one was a better condition from the beginning, and it makes lots of roots and new growths. But the other species (T. urceolatus) was smaller from the beginning, and it is finally starting to make 3 new growths after 7 months. Hopefully, new roots are following. I have only 2 of those, but some species are easier than others, and I'm curious to know which one is working with you. I hope yours will grow well!

 

[SlipperFan]

That is just wild!

 

[Migrant13]

That really is so cool. I love the Charlie Chaplin mustache.

 

[Chicago Chad]

:clap::clap::clap:
well done sir!!!

 

[Rick]

Rick, are you growing in the greenhouse with Paphs? Did it handle TN heat in the summer? Which species are you growing? and I'm curious to know which one is working with you. I hope yours will grow well!

I got T. collantesii. No it's not in the GH but in the indoor box with my Pleuro's

It doesn't get as hot in the box as in the GH since it has a (inefficient) chiller on the system. However, the humidity is not as consistent as in the GH, and sometimes gets down to 60%. I picked up the plant from Peruflora at the Orlando Slipper Orchid Symposium show, and I'm a bit concerned about the extended time of dry and heat in transit from the show to its new home. The older growths had died back, but the young growths are producing roots and looking promising. I was really surprised that the roots on these guys are big and thick like Phalaenopis

I also got a Nanodes medusae and Bulbo machupichuense that are doing very well.

 

[cnycharles]

very cool! thanks for sharing. nice pics and growing. one thing I picked up somewhere was that these didn't appreciate new zealand sphagnum but if you used the tree moss like stuff they liked that better. nice to see someone growing and flowering telipogons, I would love to but would need to make a case with misting and cooling.

rick, an orchid club member years back had a nanodes medusae and it liked cool in winter, really cool flowers

 

[Erythrone]

Lovely!

 

[Rick]

rick, an orchid club member years back had a nanodes medusae and it liked cool in winter, really cool flowers

Does he still have it? I had one years ago too (from Ecuagenera). It lasted a couple years. It produced new growths that never got big, and ultimately died without flowering.

"The box" has been improved for higher humidity and lower temps than I used to be able to keep in the past, so fingers crossed.

 

[Leo_5313]

Wow! Very nice

 

[naoki]

This plant just opened the 3rd flower, and the 1st flower started to fade after a month. It is starting to make the new growth (about 7-10mm).

I finally got a bit of time to have the flower dissected. The column of the flower looked highly modified, so at first I was quite puzzled looking through a microscope; I didn't know which part corresponds to what. I guess this isn't something you can see everyday, so I hope others would enjoy this brief exploration of the flower structure. I didn't have the lighting setup, and I couldn't completely correct the color balance, so the color in some photos is a bit off.

This is how the business end looks like before dissection:

Telipogon collantesii column on Flickr

The sepals and petals are removed. In the earlier photos (beginning of the thread), the hook was located at the bottom of the column. But technically, the hook is on top of the column. In other words, the hook is in-between the two lateral petals.

Telipogon collantesii hook on Flickr

The other side of the column (technically top side):

Telipogon collantesii hook on Flickr

When you pull out the hook, anther cap and pollinia appear. The yellow stuff coming out is the anther cap. Amazing structure!

Telipogon collantesii anther cap on Flickr

Anther cap:

Telipogon collantesii anther cap on Flickr

Pollinia (left) and anther cap (right) separated. 2 pairs of pollinia.

Telipogon collantesii pollinia (left) and anther cap (right) on Flickr

They are flipped to show the other side:

Telipogon collantesii pollinia (left) and anther cap (right) on Flickr

The shiny, pentagon shaped area (right side of the hook) is the stigma. It is filled with blackish-red jelly. This jelly/fluid is more solid in the bud, but it seems to become more fluid like after the flower opens.

Telipogon collantesii stigma on Flickr

I dug out the jelly to show the stigma surface:

Telipogon collantesii stigma, jelly removed on Flickr

I trimmed off the hairs to show the area where pollinia were located. It is a bit difficult to see it, but it is the top side of the column, lighter colored area (yellow greenish area).

Telipogon collantesii column on Flickr

Cross section of the column. After hair trimming, I made a cross section. The top left stick is the place where the hook was attached. At the base of the stick, you can see the place where pollen was stored (above the stick). Below the stick, the reddish, triangular shaped area is where the stigma jelly/fluid was.

Telipogon collantesii column cross section on Flickr

I opened up a bud which would open in a couple days. The pollinia hook is bright orange. The color of hairs is lighter, too. Look at the beautiful purplish color of the hair at the bottom! Also the stigma jelly was pretty solid at this stage.

Telipogon collantesii orange hook from bud on Flickr

Pollination done. I shoved the pollinia into the stigma jelly/fluid.

Telipogon collantesii pollination on Flickr

 

[orcoholic]

Major kudos. These are really hard. I tried.

 

[orchidsimplicit]

Amazing, I've never seen anything like that before.

 

[Secundino]

W-O-W!

This photo-session should get a sticky to somewhere. Just formidable. Thank you!

 

[Migrant13]

Thanks so much for that incredible micro tour. Dissecting non plant critters in college biology was not nearly as interesting!