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Adventures in Orchid Growing and Collecting |
Aerides testaceum is a “very pretty Orchid, distinct from anything I know; it is, in habit of growth, like Saccolabium curvifolium, bearing spikes a foot long, with delicate sulphur-coloured flowers; there are several varieties of this elegant little plant.” (Source: Classic Orchid Grower’s Manual.)
Botanical illustration of Aerides quinquevulnera.
Aerides quinquevulnera (alternative spelling: Aerides quinquevulnerum) is a splendid free-flowering Orchid from Manilla, with light green foliage, about one foot long, and less compact-growing than many other species. The sepals and petals are white, spotted with purple; the tip of the lip is green, the sides pink, and the middle a deep crimson; it blooms in July or August, and lasts two or three weeks in bloom. There are two varieties; one with much lighter coloured flowers than the other.
Aerides quinquevulnera farmeri is a “variety of the preceding, producing long spikes of white flowers; it grows like Aerides quinquevulnerum, and blooms about the same time. The first time this plant came under my notice was at Nonsuch Park, Cheam, the seat of W. F. G. Farmer, Esq. It is by no means plentiful.
Aerides odorata botanical illustration (originally published as Aerides nobile in Robert Warner, "Select orchidaceous plants", plate 11)
Aerides odorata (alternate spelling: Aerides odoratum) is a “good old free-growing species, and one of the most abundant flowering of the genus, having pale green foliage, blooming in June or July, and remaining two or three weeks in good condition. The blossoms are white, shaded with pink, and have a delightful perfume. I have seen specimens five feet high and four feet in diameter, which produced thirty or forty spikes of bloom every year; it is altogether a noble and very useful plant. Native of the East Indies.” (Source: Classic Orchid Grower’s Manual.)
Aerides odorata cornutum is a “handsome free-flowering variety from India, distinct in growth from the former; spikes about twelve inches long, furnished with pink and white-coloured flowers, which are produced in May, June, and July, and continue upwards of three weeks in bloom. (Source: Classic Orchid Grower’s Manual.)
Aerides odorata majus is “like Aerides odoratum in growth, and differing only in the larger and longer spikes of flowers. This makes a fine exhibition plant, and may be retarded very easily without the slightest injury.” (Source: Classic Orchid Grower’s Manual.)
Aerides odorata purpurascens “is a somewhat scarce variety, and one of the very best; it is robust in habit, with broad dark green leaves. It is a free bloomer, producing a long massive spike of large flowers, which are white tipped with bright pink.” (Source: Classic Orchid Grower’s Manual.)
Aerides odorata rubrum is a “very nice cool-house species, with dark green foliage; a very distinct plant, not so showy as many of the preceding ones, but well worth growing; indeed, any one that can appreciate Saccolabium ampullaceum would like this, the colour being similar and the spikes longer. Native of the Madras hills.” Formerly known as Aerides rubrum, it is now considered to be a synonym of Aerides odorata.
Aerides odorata suavissimum is a “distinct and desirable species of free growth, having light green foliage ten inches long, spotted with brown. The sepals and petals are white, and the lip has a blotch of yellow in the centre edged with white. Blooms in July, August, and September, and lasts in good condition three weeks. I have flowered several varieties of this species, some of which were much better than others.” Another related variety is Aerides suavissimum maculatum which was described by B.S. Williams as a “very handsome form of the preceding; the sepals and petals are white, profusely spotted with pink, so also is the lip. It bloomed very freely in the collection of the late Thomas Dawson, Esq., of Meadow Bank.” These varieties was formerly known as Aerides suavissimum but is now considered to be a synonym or Aerides odorata.
Botanical illustration of aerides odorata from Xenia Orchidacea.
Botanical illustration of Seidenfadenia mitrata.
Seidenfadenia mitrata is a “very peculiar plant, with long whip-like terete, dark green leaves; the flowers are borne in dense erect spikes; sepals and petals pure waxy-white; lip rosy purple. An elegant and rare species from Moulmein.
Aerides margaritaceum is a “pretty species has spotted leaves, and in its general appearance somewhat resembles Aerides maculosum; it produces spikes of pure white flowers during summer.” (Source: Classic Orchid Grower’s Manual.)
Aerides McMorlandi is a “magnificent species from India, compact in growth, and having bright green foliage, about ten inches in length; blossoms freely, producing long branching spikes of peach and white flowers in June and July, and continuing three or four weeks in perfection. The only plant I know of this was in the collection of E. McMorland, Esq., in compliment to whom it is named.” (Source: Classic Orchid Grower’s Manual.)
Aerides maculosa botanical illustration from Edwards' Botanical Magazine.
Aerides maculosa (alternative spelling: Aerides maculosm) is a “lovely dwarf Orchid from Bombay, with dark green leaves, eight inches long, close and compact, stiff growing, with light-coloured flowers, spotted all over with purple, and a large purple blotch on the lip. Blooms in June and July, and, if the flowers are kept dry, lasts four weeks in perfection. The colour of the flower is very striking. The plant is slow growing, which is the reason we so seldom see fine plants.” (Source: Classic Orchid Grower’s Manual.)
Aerides maculosa var. schroderi is a “magnificent free-growing plant from the hills near Bombay, much stronger than Aerides maculosa, and more in the way of Aerides crispum, with dark green foliage, ten inches long; the flowers are very delicate, the sepals and petals almost alike—white, tinged with lilac and spotted with rose, the labellum being of a beautiful rose colour. It flowers in June or July, lasting three weeks in perfection. This was first flowered by J. H. Schroder, Esq. It is supposed that there was only one plant imported; and the stock at present in this country is from that one plant.” (Source: Classic Orchid Grower’s Manual.)
Thrixspermum calceolus botanical illustration from Edwards' Register.
Thrixspermum calceolus is a “free handsome-flowering species from India, producing long spikes of deep rosy pink and white blossoms; foliage light green, about eight inches long and nearly two inches wide. Altogether a very showy kind, of which there are several varieties; many of them produce long branching spikes, and make a fine display when in bloom. This has become one of our best Aerides for exhibition. The finest specimen I ever saw is in the select collection of J. Broome, Esq., Didsbury, and was exhibited at the Manchester Exhibition.
Botanical illustration of Aerides falcata from Xenia Orchidacea.
Aerides falcata is a “…fine free-growing plant, with dark green leaves, ten inches long. The flowers are numerous, on a single spike, of a cream and light rose colour. It blooms in June, and lasts two weeks in perfection. This is a distinct plant, and was first flowered by Mr. Eyles, then gardener to Lady Larpent, and shown at the Regent’s Park Exhibition in 1847, when it received the first prize as a new plant. Native of the East Indies.” (Source: Classic Orchid Grower’s Manual.)
B.S. Williams wrote about this species also as a synonym named Aerides mendelii. “The plant has a stem about the thickness of that of Aerides virens; the leaves, which are about seven and a half inches long, and one and a half in breadth, are smooth, shining, and of a light green colour, and have the habit of clasping the stem at the base, like those of Aerides quinquevulnerum. The flowers are produced upon drooping spikes, and resemble those of Aerides larpentae in size and shape, but are entirely distinct in colour, being pure white tipped with rose. There was a magnificent specimen exhibited by Sir Trevor Lawrence, having three stems and a great number of spikes of its distinct blossoms. I had no idea there was such a fine specimen in this country. Native of the East Indies.” (Source: Classic Orchid Grower’s Manual.)
Photo close-up of flowers of Aerides falcatum.
Sedirea japonica mounted on driftwood with moss. Image by Airborne Pilot.
Sedirea japonica “…is quite a novelty, being, as far as I am aware, the first of the genus from Japan, and consequently will prove a cool-house species. It has thick coriaceous leaves, and a raceme of moderate length; the flowers are of a greenish white, spotted with rose colour.
Botanical illustration of orchid species Sedirea japonica from Curtis' Botanical Magazine.