Brassavola martiana

Brassavola martiana

Native to: Brassavola martiana is native to Guyana in northern South America. It is also found growing at low elevations in Bolivia, Brazil, Surinam, the Guyanas, Venezuela and Colombia below 1000 meters. It grows on trees.

Plant Size: Medium to large. Brassavola martiana has pencil-like pseudobulbs and terete, fleshy leaves that have a shallow v-shaped channel that runs down the center of the leaf. The leaves are longer than Brassavola ceboletta but shorter than Brassavola cucullata. Foliage is dark green or olive green in color. The plants are upright.

Flower Size: Small. Flowers range from one inch to three inches across.

Flower Description: The scent of Brassavola martiana is small but powerfully fragrant. The scent of Brassavola martiana has been described as very floral with hints of jasmine and gardenia. The petals and sepals are olive green. The lip is small and spade-shaped with a frilly margin. Flowers are long-lived and fragrant at night.

Bloom Season: Spring

Growing Temperature: Warm, Intermediate

Additional Information: Brassavola martiana grows best mounted on wood, a tree branch, or cork plaque. Reduce watering during the cooler months of the year and provide copious water and fertilizer while new growth is developing.
Synonyms: Bletia amazonica; Bletia attenuata; Brassavola angustata; Bletia martiana; Brassavola amazonica; Brassavola angustata; Brassavola duckeana; Brassavola multiflora; Brassavola martiana var. multiflora; Brassavola surinamensis

Brassavola fragrans

Brassavola fragrans


Common Name: Fragrant Brassavola

Native to: Brassavola fragrans is native to Brazil where it grows on trees.

Plant Size: Brassavola fragrans is a medium size epiphyte has a pendent habit and hangs gracefully from a mount.
Flower Size: Medium.

Flower Description: The flowers of Brassavola fragrans has olive green petals and sepals and a cream to white colored lip. The flowers are fragrant. The branched inflorescence bears few to many flowers. Well grown plants can produce impressive displays of flowers.
Bloom Season: Blooms in the fall.
Growing Temperature: Warm, Intermediate.
Additional Information: Brassavola fragrans is much less common than some other species in the genus and should be grown in collections more often. Grow mounted on wood or cork mounts. Cut back on watering during the winter months. This species is thought to be closely related to Brassavola flagellaris.
Synonyms: None

Brassavola flagellaris

Brassavola flagellaris

Common Name: Whip-leafed Brassavola

Native to: Brazil. Brassavola flagellaris is found growing on rocks and trees.

Plant Size: Medium to large. Brassavola flagellaris has a creeping rhizome that produces cylindrical, erect pseudobulbs. Each pseudobulb has one long, creased, fleshy dark green leaf. New growths produce flowers on a branched inflorescence.

Flower Size: 2 1/2 inches to 3 inches (6-7.5 cm)

Flower Description: Brassavola flagellaris has very narrow petals and sepals that are green in color. The lip is broad and rounded and white in color. The branched infloresence grows to 6 inches (15 cm) long and produces up to 15 flowers. Flowers are fragrant.

Bloom Season: Spring to Summer

Growing Temperature: Warm to Hot

Additional Information: Brassavola flagellaris is best grown mounted on wood plaques or cork mounts. Water heavily and provide high humidity year round. It grows well under warm cattleya conditions.

Synonyms: None

Brassavola cucullata

Brassavola cucullata

Common Name: Hooded Brassavola

Native to: Mexico, Central America, Northern South America, and the West Indies. Widespread.
Brassavola cucullata grows on trees in coastal rain forests between sea level and 1800 meters in elevation.

Plant Size: Medium. The slender pseudobulbs of Brassavola cucullata are erect and have a single, fleshy green leaf. The plant has one leaf per pseudobulb. Dried sheaths cover the pseudobulbs.

Flower Size: 7 inches (17 cm)

Flower Description: This species has white flowers with slender petals and sepals that droop dramatically. Brassavola cucullata has a nocturnally fragrant flower. Some describe the fragrance as skunk-like and unpleasant. Flowers touched by cold weather may have a reddish coloration. There are one or two flowers per growth and they grow on an 8 inch (20 cm) long stem.

Bloom Season: Summer to Fall.

Growing Temperature: Warm to Cool. Intermediate is preferred.

Additional Information: Brassavola cucullata is the type species for the genus Brassavola.

Synonyms: Bletia cucullata; Brassavola appendiculata; Brassavola cucullata var. cuspidata; Brassavola cucullata var elegans; Brassavola cuspidata; Brassavola elongata; Brassavola odorattissima; Cymbidium cucullatum; Epidendrum cucullatum

Brassavola cordata

Brassavola cordata

Common Name: Heart-lipped Brassavola
Native to: Jamaica. This species is found growing on trees.
Plant Size: Medium to large. The robust leaves of Brassavola cordata are long, fleshy, and deeply channeled.
Flower Size: 1 3/4 inches (4 cm)

Flower Description: The petals and sepals on Brassavola cordata are apple green. The heart-shaped lip is white in color. Flowers are fragrant at night and have an attractive citrus scent. The mature pseudobulb produces a 6 inch (15 cm) long branched stem that produces up to 6 flowers. Brassavola cordata has long-lived flowers.
Bloom Season: Summer to Fall

Growing Temperature: Warm

Additional Information: Brassavola cordata is best grown mounted on cork bark, tree fern plaques or wood slabs. Provide heavy water during the growing season and reduce slightly after the newest pseudobulbs mature. Provide warm cattleya growing conditions with ample humidity and air circulation. This species should be correctly called Brassavola subuliflolia but it was published in such an obscure journal that it was not discovered until the Brassavola cordata was established as the accepted name.
Synonyms: Bletia cordata; Bletia nodosa var. cordata;Brassavola harrisii; Brassavola nodosa; Brassavola nodosa subsp. cordata; Brassavola sloanei; Brassavola stricta; Brassavola subuliflolia; Lysimnia bicolor

Brassavola cebolleta

Brassavola cebolleta


Common Name: Onion-leafed Brassavola
Native to: Brazil, Paraguay. Brassavola cebolleta grows on trees in hot, dry forests and cliffs.
Plant Description: The foliage of Brassavola cebolleta is long, terete and pendent. The pseudobulbs are slender and pencil like. The foliage looks somewhat like chives or onion leaves.
Flower Size: 2 inches (5 cm)

Flower Description: Flowers of Brassavola cebolleta are white with a greenish cast. The lip is greenish-white or white. Sometimes the petals have a reddish flush on the rear.

Bloom Season: Late Spring, Summer, Fall. May and June is the peak bloom season.

Temperature: Hot, Warm

Additional Information: Brassavola cebolleta grows and flowers best when it has ample light, humidity, and water. Watering should be reduced when the newest pseudobulbs mature and harden. Best grown mounted on cork or a tree branch. Uncommon in cultivation.
Synonyms: Bletia ceboletta; Brassavola chacoensis; Brassavola reginae; Brassavola ovaliformis; Brassavola 'bahiensis'

Brassavola acaulis

Brassavola acaulis

Common Name: The Stemless Brassavola

Native to: Panama, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Mexico. Brassavola acaulis is native to moist forested foothills where it grows on tree branches. Its center of distribution is located in Costa Rica.

Plant Description: The fleshy terete leaves of Brassavola acaulis are pendent (hang from the rhizome) and up to 0.75 inches (2 cm) wide. The leaves grow between 16 and 32 inches (40-80 cm) long. The rhizome creeps along the substrate. Like Cattleya walkeriana, this species produces flower stems from the rhizome rather than from the top of the pseudobulb. It alternates producing new leaf growths with flower stems. Foliage is dark green in color.

Flower Size: 2 3/4 inches to 3 1/4 inches (7-8 cm)

Flower Description: One flower is produced on an inflorescence that grows from the rhizome. The petals and sepals of Brassavola acaulis are greenish-white and the lip is white in color. Flowers are waxy. Fragrant at night.

Bloom Season: May-July

Temperature: Warm

Additional Information: Brassavola acaulis needs to be grown mounted on cork or a tree branch since the foliage is pendent. Provide bright light and Cattleya conditions with high humidity and good air circulation. Let the plant dry out between watering and reduce water some during the winter when temperatures are cooler.

Synonyms: Bletia acaulis; Bletia lineata; Brassavola lineata; Brassavola mathieuana

Barkeria whartoniana

Barkeria whartoniana


Common Name: Wharton's Barkeria


Native to: Mexico. Barkeria whartoniana has a very limited distribution in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in the state of Oaxaca. This species grows on rocks and occasionally on trees in hot, dry deciduous forests between 200 and 300 meters in elevation. Rare.


Plant Description: Small. Short cylindrical pseudobulbs have a four to seven leaves and produce an inflorescence at the apex of a maturing growth.


Flower Size: Small
Flower Description: The flowers of Barkeria whartoniana are pale lilac or white. There are dark red or maroon markings on the lip. Flowers are not fragrant.
Bloom Season: Winter to spring in cultivation. Barkeria whartoniana blooms during the fall in the wild.
Temperature: Warm
Additional Information: Barkeria whartoniana has been confused with Barkeria melanocaulon and Barkeria fritz-halbingeriana but differs in minor details in floral structures. Grow mounted on bark, tree fern, or wood. Reduce watering during the plant's dormant season.
Synonyms: Epidendrum whartonianum

Barkeria uniflora

Barkeria uniflora

Common Name: Single-Flowered Barkeria

Native to: Mexico. Barkeria uniflora is found growing on trees near dry creek beds in the Mexican states of Guerrero, Mexico, Michocan, and Oaxaca.

Plant Description: The small plants of Barkeria uniflora have small, cylindrical pseudobulbs with a few fleshy, deciduous leaves.

Flower Size: 2 3/4 inches (5.5 cm)

Flower Description: The flowers of Barkeria uniflora are white or lilac. The lip has a darker blotch toward the tip with markings on the lighter portions. The inflorescence produces one to a few flowers.

Bloom Season: Fall or winter in cultivation. June in the wild.

Temperature: Warm to Cool.

Additional Information: Barkeria uniflora is closely related to Barkeria barkeriola.

Synonyms: Barkeria elegans; Epidendrum elegans; Pachyphyllum uniflorum

Barkeria spectabilis

Barkeria spectabilis

Common Name: Spectacular Barkeria

Native to: El Salvador, Guatemala, southern Mexico. Barkeria spectabilis grows on oak tree branches in its native habitat in drier areas. It is found growing between 1300 and 3500 meters in elevation. Occasionally, it grows on rocks as a lithophyte.

Plant Description: Small. Narrow, cylindrical pseudobulbs of Barkeria spectabilis have a few fleshy, deciduous leaves that turn yellow and fall during the winter dormant season. Plants have vigorous white roots.

Flower Size: 1 3/4 inches to 3 inches (4-8 cm)

Flower Description: Barkeria spectabilis flowers are variable and range from lilac to white. The lip has reddish markings. Flowers are large for the genus. The flowers do not have any noticeable fragrance. The flowers are short-lived but open in succession which provides a decent flower show for the grower. The flower stem is approximately 10 inches (25 cm) and originates from the top of a newly maturing pseudobulb.

Bloom Season: Summer

Temperature: Warm to Cool

Additional Information: Barkeria spectabilis grows best mounted on cork or a tree branch. Provide ample water and fertilizer during its period of active growth. Reduce watering when the leaves begin to yellow and water just enough during the dormant period (October to January) to keep the plant from completely dehydrating. Provide average to bright light, average humidity, and good air circulation.

Synonyms: Barkeria lindleyanan ssp. spectabile, Epidendrum spectabile