Bollea bother!!

[ozorchid]

Hi all. Just wondering if anyone can clarify something for me?
I was given a " save me please!" plant from a friend and it is labelled as Bollea ecuadorensis...now the confusion begins...
Is there such a plant? I have looked and looked on the net to try and find an image of this orchid in flower and all I seem to get is references to Pescatoria ecuadorana or Bollea ecuadorana??!! is this plant a species or not?
I am ususally quite up to scratch on my species but this one is throwing me, I am actually very confused at what this plant actually is and most importantly it's culture and flower shape and colour.
Can anyone out there lend me a hand out of this confusion?
Look forward to your reply.
(wish I had photo of it in flower but it is not flowering yet?
Many thanks
Cheers

[zainal abidin]

Hi .
I like this plants but difficult to get. In my collection I have Bollea Violacea. For your information nomenculature of this species still debatable. Peviously they called as Bollea species base on their lips presentation and morphology of the flower but now they put into the group as you mention as Pescatoria species. Equadorensis refer that they found this plants in Equador.So it is the same plants you can call either equadorana or equadorensis.Plese refer the latest classification by Taxonomist( With my limited experience)

[ozorchid]

Thank you very much Zainal. That is really helpful, I will relabel the plant and hope it grows well for me!
Not sure where you are from but here in Melbourne Australia Bolleas are readily available along with Cochleanthes and Promeneas. Wish you luck in finding all of them, they sure are beautiful things.
Cheers

[ang709]

As for culture, according to a book I have, Bolleas like intermediate conditions and cool nights and do not like to be left to get too dry. Hope that helps. I recently got a plant that's part Bollea, so I'm just learning about this one too.

[ozorchid]

Thanks for that, I will try growing it in medium/coarse bark so I can water it everyday and allow it to dry somewhat by evening time, or would other growers of these plants suggest otherwise????
Cheers

[ang709]

What is the climate like in your area? How are the heat and humidity? Also, what size pot is it? Those would all be factors in deciding how often to water. For me, watering every day would definitely be too much.

[ozorchid]

Well, the climate is quite hot and dry in summer and cool and wet in winter. The humidity in summer can range outdoors from 23% to 50-70%, very changeable weather. Temps. in summer can range wildly also, anything from a low daytime of 21C to 42C!! minimum overnights will be around the 14-22C. Winter is very cold temperatures drop to 4C with maximums in the teens, and often it is very wet also. But all these aside I do grow most of my orchids in a greenhouse and all seem to do well and flower for me. Anything from Draculas to Vanda alliance are in the collection. Greenhouse probably gets down to 10C as a minimum in winter and a maximum of 43C in summer, humidity hovers from 40% to 92% depending on how hot/cold it gets. These of course are extremes.
So what do you think?
Cheers

[ang709]

Do you have any other types of orchids that don't like to dry out completely? How often do you water them? Maybe that could serve as a guide as to how often your bollea wants watered.

Also, I did a web search for bollea ecuadorana. It apparently likes lower light. I really like the pinkish purple color of the flower.

[ozorchid]

Yes, I have Dendrobium cuthbertsonii along with Draculas and Masdevallias. But I am guessing that I may keep it with the Miltonopsis species as they have their own spot in the greenhouse right in front of a fan and a fogger. And I agree with you, Bolleas do have gorgeous flowers and am looking forward to this one flowering for me.