Stanhopea update

[L I Jane]

Here is a picture of all the buds open (this morning).I'm still trying to find out what it might be named

[Heather]

Very lovely - I love how they look like hummingbirds. I can't see anything else now! Sorry I cannot help on the id. Thanks for sharing!

[Paphraguy]

Very pretty and I also like those "hummers"!

[Jmoney]

nice display! stanhopeas to me always look like a bunch of birds of prey...

[Scotty]

Hi Jane... Scotty here...
simply beautiful... and a great photo too...
your question about the name has sparked me to dig into
my archives... because I think I've seen something similar before.

The three distinguishing characteristics that help me are...
1. the 'eye spot' on the upper sides of the lip...
2. the 'horn-like' projections as the side-lobes of the lip...
3. the absence of a saccate [sack-like] projection at the base of the lip.

The 3 main species that fit those criteria are...
oculata...
costaricensis...
embreei...

all of the above have various degrees of 'spotting' on the sepals and petals...
but that alone is not a determing factor... as 'alba' forms are known to occur.

My best SWAG... [Scientific Wild A**ed Guess] is that it is an 'albescens' form of the species Stan costaricensis.

I've attached a pic [not mine]... of what is the closest example that I have in my archive.

one other note... because I think it has a strong potential to be something unusual... [the alba form of something fairly common]...
I would like to ask you if you would consider pollenating 2 of the flowers in an attempt to produce some seed...

you could use the pollen from a flower on one stem... and place it on a flower from another stem... sorta switch between the 2 stems of flowers... the pods [1 on each stem] should not tax the plant too much... and it would be a neat experiment to see if the results bloom the same... or are a mixture of colored and alba forms.

Contact me directly if you would like to do what I suggested... and i can help you if you get stuck... and I'm willing to bear the costs of doing a couple of flasks.

Regards... Scotty.

[L I Jane]

This is a closeup for Scotty who has really done a lot of homework.

[L I Jane]

I think I'm getting somewhere I posted this also on another site & I found the guy I bought it from back in 2001 when it was imported.It was labelled occulata when I got it.He told me that it was occulata but there was a variety that didn't have the spots only perhaps in the column known as 'crocea'.It smells like vanilla.Mine smells to me more like a vanilla peony than straight vanilla.This is the best info I've gotten so far.What fun!

[PAGrower]

Is that the same one you posted a photo of in bud a little while ago? If so, yowza! It went from looking like an upside down artichoke to a real swan, and I love when that happens.

[Persistence]

Well, I am about 12 species shy of having all the Stans there are. It amazes me the variation of certain species. Stan occulata has the most with 22 variations. In general the genus Stanhopea is a very mislabeled genus. The distinguishing factors on Stanhopea are the hypochile and mesochile. I pic of the side, from behind and the top are best for good identification pics.

My best guess is occulata. Smell is NOT a determining factor as the same species can have a variety of smells.

A good book to get for Stanhopea is by Barney Greer. I think it's called, The Astonishing Stanhopea.

Good luck in the identification.