Tubular Flowers

More fruit-colored tubular flowers from the Tropical High Elevation House. All of our tropical blueberries produce flowers that look good enough to eat, Cavendishia macrantha included. I love the two-tone melon/honeydew colored flowers. They are followed by berries that are rich in anti-oxidants.

And a completely unrelated plant, a bromeliad, possibly a Guzmania, with tubular olive flowers. The flowers arise from translucent pink bracts.

Here's a look at the entire plant, with its narrow linear leaves, glossy red stem and long internodes. Quite striking.

From the Department of Gorgeous Miscellany

Ceratostema rauhii

Not an orchid. But unquestionably a stunner. And if the bell shaped flowers remind you a little of Pieris or Vaccinium, congratulations; it is a member of the blueberry/Rhododenron family, the Ericaceae.

Meet Ceratostema (se-RA-toh-stem-uh) rauhii, an epiphytic shrub native to Peru. The stems are long and pendant and cloaked with adorably downy, almost succulent, leaves. (Yet another plant that is pettable. Everybody seems to want to stroke this plant.) And in spring it is studded with mauve flowers. You can see two plants on display in the Tropical High Elevation House.

Ceratostema rauhii is not cold hardy in Atlanta. Our plants have done well in an intermediate greenhouse and in our chillier High Elevation House. The current year's growth is easy to root in about eight weeks under mist in a cutting mix of 3 parts perlite: 1 part peat moss. I have used Rootone and a 10% solution of Dip 'n Grow successfully. We grow our plants in slatted cedar hanging baskets in an epiphytic mix consisting of milled sphagnum, fine fir bark, charcoal and tree fern fiber.

The tropical blueberries are gorgeous. More pics of our collection here, there and elsewhere. They are on display year round in the Tropical High Elevation House.

Blueberry Surprise

Cavendishia tarapotana var. gilgiana in the Fuqua Orchid Center

The most beautiful of our tropical blueberries, Cavendishia tarapotana var. gilgiana*, surprised me this month with a burst of flowers. The last time our plant flowered was in July of 2011 so I had begun to think of it as a long day plant--i.e., a species requiring short nights in order to set buds. Maybe not. Regardless, the species is an absolute stunner and well worth a look if you are visiting the Tropical High Elevation House in the Fuqua Orchid Center.

Blueberries and Rhododendrons belong to the same family, the Ericaceae. Like many of the tropical blueberries, Cavendishia tarapotana var. gilgiana is an epiphytic shrub, and a gigantic one--each of our two plants measures about 6' from tip to tip. It is native to Colombia and Ecuador. Tropical blueberries produce fruits that are rich in antioxidants, but not so rich in flavor. Not bad, just bland. Some enterprising hybridizer may take them in hand one day, but I think they are wonderful just as they are.

Tropical blueberries are easily propagated by cuttings of the current year's growth 5-6" long, using either Rootone or a 10% solution of Dip 'n Grow. Our cuttings are rooted under fog in a cutting mix of 3 parts perlite to one part peatmoss. They root in about eight weeks. We grow our plants in an mix that we use for our tropical epiphytes. It consists of milled sphagnum, fine fir bark, charcoal and tree fern fiber. A mix of equal parts fine fir bark, charcoal and peatmoss works equally well.

*syn. Cavendishia gilgiana

Openings: Week of April 30

Cyrtochilum serratum in the Tropical High Elevation House

Whenever one of our ravishing cyrtochilums flowers I want to call the newspaper. They are just so exceptional in every way--exceptionally beautiful, exceptionally rare in cultivation, and unfortunately, exceptionally difficult to grow outside of the cloud forest. I feel flattered when one of ours flowers.

All of the Cyrtochilum species are native to the misty upland forests of the Andes where their extraordinarily long rhizomes scramble up trees and shrubs. But it's the flower spike, or inflorescence, that will make you stop for a second look. It's a graceful twining strand that winds its way up, around and among surrounding trees like rainforest tinsel, with as many as 100 flowers per strand.  Cyrtochilum serratum is  native to Ecuador and Colombia. If you guessed that Cyrtochilum is closely related to Oncidium, the Dancing Lady Orchid, you are correct.

Medinilla magnifica

Magnifica indeed. Without a doubt, the most commented upon plant in the Orchid Center right now is Medinilla magnifica, one of the all time great plants for conservatories. Not an orchid. It is a large shrub in the mostly tropical and frequently ornamental Melastomataceae. I have noticed M. magnifica for sale in Atlanta garden centers this month. It is not hardy in Atlanta. Melastomes, even large ones like Medinilla magnifica, are easily rooted by cuttings.
We have quite a nice collection of melastomes at ABG, and if you like M. magnifica you will love our recently installed Medinilla miniata, similar in size and aspect, but with fiery red flowers. Melastomes come in all sizes, but they are easy to recognize. The leaves are opposite with veins that lie parallel to one another. The flowers have a peculiar feature: the stamens are elbow-shaped.

Pleurothallis cyanea on a tree in the High Elevation House

If you visit the Tropical High Elevation House this week you will see a burst of flowers on some of my favorite clamshell orchids, Pleurothallis cyanea, P. gigantea and P. teaguei,  P. marthae and ever-blooming P. titan. I love the thick coriaceous leaves on Pleurothallis cyanea.

Cavendishia grandifolia

Cavendishia grandifolia is one of the most impressive plants in the Tropical High Elevation House and certainly our largest shrub. It's astonishing to realize that this plant, with its fifteen foot pendant branches is an epiphyte. It's a mighty plant that can support one of these sprawling monsters. Each of the thick platter-like leaves is ten to twelve inches long. You can get a closer look at those gorgeous tubular flowers here. We have two grandifolias: the one pictured above cascades over the waterfall; the other is draped over the arch of the tepui.

Lots of orchids in flower this week! Please stop by for a visit.

more luscious Tropical Blueberries

Sweet tooth: prepare for action. One of the most spectacular of the tropical blueberries is in flower now in the Tropical High Elevation House.

Cavendishia grandifolia in flower 

Cavendishia grandifolia fruits have been recently recognized as an extremely potent source of dietary antioxidants.

Aside from being beautiful and nutritious, the plant is remarkable for its size: the sprawling stems on our plant are about ten feet in length. It is an enormous epiphytic shrub.

Cavendishia micayensis inflorescences cascading over the face of the waterfall.  The green tipped flowers can be seen among the billowy pink bracts.

Macleania coccoloboides with bell shaped flowers, an unmistakable hallmark of the family Ericaceae

Cavendishia bracteata with gorgeous translucent bracts.

Cavendishia grandifolia and C. micayensis will continue to flower through January. Stop by and see these marvelous plants!

Tropical Blueberries II

Ceratostema silvicola in bud & flower

Two more delectable tropical blueberry species are flowering this week in the Tropical High Elevation House. The flowers look good enough to eat.

Cavendishia micayensis 
Notice the ivory/green tubular flowers among the pink bracts

Last week I wrote about the antioxidant properties of these tropical relatives of our native blueberries. But did I mention how gorgeous they are?

Their culture is similar to that of the the Vireya Rhododendrons, another group of tropical ericaceous shrubs. They need some sun, temperatures above 48º, acidic peaty substrate. Many of them are epiphytes and therefore want some additional perlite and/or fine fir bark added to their mix. The biggest challenge in growing them? Size. The flowers pictured above are produced on branches about 6' in length.

Tropical blueberries are fairly uncommon in cultivation. The New York Botanical Garden has an excellent research collection. Our Tropical High Elevation House is a great place to see them.

Extreme Superfruits

Whether you realize it or not, you are already familiar with this group of plants.

Macleania pentaptera in flower

These are blueberries. They belong to the same family (Ericaceae) that includes Rhododendrons, azaleas, heathers, mountain laurel, Pieris, and edible crops like cranberry, lignonberry, bilberry and, of course, the temperate zone blueberries that you put on your morning cereal.

Anthopteris wardii with flowers and fruits

The blueberries pictured above grow in the tropics of Central and South America. Their vivid flowers are the precursors of large fleshy berries, usually white or purple. Beautiful, yes. Great tasting? Well...I would describe them as faintly sweet, but without a distinctive flavor. I won't be making a pie out of them.

But wait. In July of this year researchers at Lehman College and the New York Botanical Garden announced that tropical blueberries have two to four times more antioxidants than U.S. blueberries. Consumption of antioxidants is associated with a low incidence of some chronic diseases and may help protect against heart disease and cancer.

Anthopteris wardii, pictured above, along with Cavendishia grandifolia, are the two species that the researchers found to have the highest amounts of antioxidants.

"We consider these two species of neotropical blueberries to be extreme superfruits with great potential to benefit human health," said Dr. Edward Kennelly of Lehman College in a statement.

You can see Anthopteris wardii, Cavendishia grandifolia and a dozen or so other neotropical blueberries in our Tropical High Elevation House.