Restrepia guttulata Lindley 1836
photo© Eric Hunt, www.orchidphotos.org

Masdevalia infracta Lindley 1833 photo© Eric Hunt
www.orchidphotos.org 

Masdevallia amaluzae  
Luer & Malo 1978
foto© Eric Hunt, www.orchidphotos.org

Masdevallia coriacea Lindley 1845
foto© Eric Hunt, www.orchidphotos.org

Masdevallia amabilis Reichenbach f. & Warsc. 1854
foto© Frank Hajek

American Orchids
              
For us, and most latinamericans, America stands for the American Continent not just the United States which is just a part of this fabulous hemisphere. Because orchids only respect geographical borders in this section we will discuss about orchids from different parts of America.

We are starting with an amazing Chilean species endemic to an archipelago 650 km west of the coast into de Pacific Ocean.

Selkirk’s Orchid, (Gavilea insularis) at the Juan Fernandez archipelago, Chile. We greatly thank the collaboration of Mr. Juan  C. Torres-Mura for his help in the making of this article.

Orchids are amazing not just for their wonderful colors, scents and shapes but also for their adaptability to harsh conditions. This orchid, Selkirk’s orchid,
grows in a group of islands 650 km far from the continent in front of the coasts of Valparaiso. We, Peruvians owe a lot to this islands named Juan Fernandez Archipelago. Because the Dutch fleet drunk water from an infected pit the invasion of Lima in the XVIIIth century was cancelled. If it wasn’t for this islands I would have been translating this article
from Dutch instead of Spanish…

The name of this Orchid comes from the solitary sailor Alexander Selkirk who was abandoned for years in
one of these islands. Daniel Defoe based his novel Robinson Crusoe in this character. These islands, rich in endemic flora and fauna have only one registered orchid species found in the Selkirk island. The climate in this islands of heavy rain varies around the 15ºC.

Collected in 1956 it was scientifically registered in 1968.
Recently it has been seen living at 1100 meters of altitude between local ferns and grasslands. This plants can be found along with ferns. They reach 20 cm presenting around ten green leaves and between 10 to 20 yellow flowers. It is known that there are other species of this genus living in Chile and Argentina (and
as far as the Flakands).

Browse here the new additions to our web site

New picture of genus Aa!

New Orchid species!

Stanhopea marizaiana Jenny 2003

New Orchid species!

Stanhopea manriquei Jenny 2005

Masdevallia coccinea Linden ex Lindl. 1794
foto© Eric Hunt www.orchidphotos.org

Masdevallia constricta Poeppig & Endlicher 1838
foto© Eric Hunt www.orchidphotos.org

Masdevallia manoloi C.A. Luer & M. Arias 1998
photo© Eric Hunt www.orchidphotos.org

Masdevallia cyclotega Königer 1981
foto© Eric Hunt, www.orchidphotos.org