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Project Noah Nature School
Catasetum integerrimum
Integerrinum is an orchid Catasetum, which can also be found in the jungles of Quintana Roo Mexico (although in this case I have found it farther Northwest of the Yucatan peninsule). Students of the Telesecundaria school have developed a project to save this endangered species of orchid, as some people used to sell this plant and now it has almost disappeared from the Mayan jungle. The genus Catasetum has thick cigar-shaped pseudobulbs, which are grouped together. The leaves are silvery on top and deciduous. The pseudobulbs present spines after the leaves have fallen. These species produce separate and different male and female flowers (which is exceptional in the family Orchidaceae). The male flowers are usually very colorful and sofisticated. The female flowers are usually yellow-green and fairly uniform in appearance (I guess I have a female in the pic then).
Yucatan jungle.
Thanks for the info. Marta :)
You are obviously as patient as I am with your orchids. Sometimes I feel like I should move the more stubborn ones a little closer to the bin & see if that makes them change their mind about flowering!
Where I saw it was in a very very hot place. The tree was close to a dirt road and it was in the surroundings of Chichen Itza. It was actually on the way to see some caves that are nearby. I guess they thrive in indirect sun, with lots of humidity and temperatures above 30 C. Hope yours flowers one of these days. I have many different orchid plants at home and some take years in between flowering, whereas others do it very often.
Hey Marta, thanks for adding this wonderful series to the mission. It's really great to see how it's attached to it's host tree and that it's growing in some shade. I've read that this one often grows with quite a lot of exposure to the sun, so it's good to see the kind of filtered light they can also do well in.
I've actually got a seed raised plant of this species here at home. It was a proper baby when I got it and is now adolescent - I don't think it's grown up enough to flower yet but I'm hoping it might surprise me;)
Many thanks for the ID, Juan!
To Dan: Yes, I feel very lucky that I looked up above me and just saw this beauty :-)
Spotted on Sep 12, 2011
Submitted on Sep 23, 2011
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