Nanodes Medusae! has arrived

[opaline]

Ok! I admit it! Should of done my research first but its not the first time I have thrown caution to the wind. Some of my best adopted orchids are a result of being spontaneous.

Its a young plant or maybe just a miniature by nature, mounted on fern root. Not encountered this fern root before and must say I could become quite a fan, but I bet its pricey like cork bark. A neo falcata seedling has also recently made home here.

Any info on this plant, the Nanodes not the neo. Any hints or tips and background to this unusual plant. Anything to avoid aswell.? Thanks in advance !

[opaline]

Note that the fern root is 7 - 8 inches top to bottom and 2 - 3 inch squared.

[cdayinflorida]

Seems to be very happy Matt!

[Brutal_Dreamer]

Lucky you, Matt!

cheers,
BD

[kiwiorchids]

Heres what i found on IOSPE:

Flower Size to more than 3" [to more than 7.5 cm]

Found as a medium sized, epiphytic, cool growing orchid in Ecuador in wet montane cloud forests with a short rhizome giving rise to clustered, cane-like, laterally compressed, pendant stems that are basally branching, and completely enveloped by compressed, conduplicate, fleshy, gray-green, foliaceous sheaths carrying coriaceous, narrowly oblong-ovate, apically unequally bilobed, basally clasping leaves that are somewhat twisted at the base and blooms most often in the summer on an axillary, short, single [sometimes up to 3] flowered inflorescence with fantastic, large, heavy-textured flowers at elevations of 1800 to 2700 meters. Best grown on a mount with cool temperatures and constant moisture and medium light.

And this is what Kew says:

Epidendrum medusae (Rchb.f.) Pfitzer in H.G.A.Engler & K.A.E.Prantl (eds.), Nat. Pflanzenfam. 2(6): 145 (1889).
This name is accepted.


Sounds as if you have a rather interesting newbie Matt! Good luck, plus the blooms look REALLY WEIRD



Photo by © Eric Hunt

[cdayinflorida]

WOW

[opaline]

Thanks all. It was the 'weird' that did it for me. Infact doubted whether it was an orchid at all and became even more confused with the aka 'epidendrum'. Has had no trouble acclimatizing at all and Im sure it will let me know if I done something wrong when i have a look and see nothing but a bare stem, but heres hoping for those brilliant blooms, they are bulbo alien class.....will see soon enough if it smells like a rotting carcass. Thanks again for your input and comments. So much easier to come here from the shortcut on my desktop than trail through endless pages of useless search results.