Oliver's posts are, as always, thought provokers and an education.
Jay's comments prove that diligence and persistence will give rewards.
Two trips that I made to Ecuador in the mid-70's illustrate this with
many species found, often in abundance . Imagine a spot of elfin forest
with many Masdevallia rosea blooming in floor litter looking more
suitable for mushroom culture. A full sun gravely bank was laden with
Cyrtochilum macranthum in bloom along with a sneaky vegetative
look-alike with dreary little flowers. Was this a coincidence or some
peculiar symbiosis?
Back to the niche habitat business. On one of my trips to Belize we
took a side trip from our base outside of San Ignatio down the
Hummingbird Highway. The central part of Belize is heavily planted in
citrus and the terrain varies from valleys to more open fields in the
south. I noted on the way south an old citrus grove in this hill
enclosed area that was loaded with epiphytes and made a mental note to
stop on the way back for an investigation. Older groves further south
had infrequent epiphytes but did include the ubiquitous Oncidium
ascendens which is definitely "frequent" in Belize. On return I checked
this old grove and found that the tree branches and trunks were
virtually smothered in orchids, bromiliads and tillandsias. Again, the
speciation was narrow. The orchids were a couple of Epidendrum sp. and
Notylia (?) sp. Odd out of season flowers were of the sort only an
advanced botanist or mother could love. Seed pods were in abundance.
What a peculiar isolated habitat! Where did these plants come from and
why do they find these non-indigenous farmed citrus trees so congenial?
Why were they not seen on citrus trees at a little lower elevation? My
reasoning is that do exist in the nearby indigenous forest but
infrequently. Along came the orange grove, open, lightly shaded, bathed
in moderate moisture laden air directed down the valley. A great non
competitive location for twig epiphytes. Lo! Instant weeds. Time and
energy did not allow for an extended investigation of the forested hills
which might have given additional data. A little project for someone
else. Bernard C. Gerrard, Truchas/Trucker.
_______________________________________________
the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD)
[email protected]
http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
