Odontoglossum Alliance shortened cross to flower cycle. He illustrated Odontoglossum his techniques with excellent visual material including many suggestions for proceeding from Alliance Meeting the flask through community pot to flowering. Bob has promised to write up his talk to be printed in a future newsletter. a Success The John Day scrapbooks were a monumental The Odontoglossum Alliance held its annual achievement produced in the period of mid to late meeting in conjunction with the Eastern Orchid ISOO’s. Mr. Michael Tibbs of Stonehurst Congress in Boston, Massachusetts on 23 Nurseries had completed a study of these books October. Bob Dugger, Program Chairman, now located at Kew Gardens. Michael extracted a introduced each of the four speakers. Allan large amount of interesting material on Moon, Curator, Eric Young Orchid Foundation odontoglossums produced by Day. Michael’s described their efforts to create albino illustrations and talk was interesting and odontoglossums. This work had started under informative. Day produced colored flowers, in Mr. Charlesworth, but had lain in neglect water color with great detail, but often left the following his death in 1920. The Foundation had rest of the plant vaguely sketched. Day also pursued a course of producing albino flowers included letters, comments, and clippings from using the original Charlesworth progress and gardeners publications. combining it with recent chromosome count The meeting was attended by about 150 people work of Don Wimber producing amazing and who where very enthusiastic about the high beautiful results. Allan showed slides of large quality of the program. Following the lecture pure white odontoglossums, white with yeUow series, the Alliance held an auction of fine markings, and clear yellows. AUan demonstrated odontoglossum alliance material. Dr. Howard what could be done using the latest scientific Leibman ably held the audience with his detailed breeding information. The results produced knowledge of each item. Several awarded plants, praise from the audience. 8 flasks and a reprint of Veitch’s Manual of Dr. Richard Kaufman gave a most informative Orchidaceous Plants 1887 - The discussion on the odontoglossum species. Oncidiinae. (donated by the New Zealand Richard had organized the species into logical Odontoglossum Alliance) were rapidly sold. groups that made it easy to group plants and Preceding the afternoon lecture series the understand their relationships. His colored slides Alliance had a luncheon. The dinning room held / of the species provided everyone an opportunity only 50 people which was rapidly filled. It to know these lovely flowers. provided an opportunity for informal discussion. The ’Odontoglossum Pipeline’ was presented by These activities generated new interest in the Robert Hamilton of Berkley California. Bob has Odontoglossum Alliance and eleven new done extensive work with sow ing alliance seeds. members were added to the current membership. His techniques are of a high scientific caliber, yet which now exceeds 100. During the luncheon the useable within a home environment. Bob gave a plans for the November letter were described as clear explanation with many details and fine well as the plans for the Alliance meeting at the points to achieve high yield success with a 14th WOC. Newsletter 1 November 1992 ... Flower Show Odontoglossum Alliance October is not a great month for odontoglossums. However some excellent Species Description displays were in the Eastern Orchid Congress Leonore Bockemuhl Flower show. Best Odontoglossum of Show was Aspasia Lindl. 1832 awarded to Odm. Anne Gripp displayed by Pat Petit of Chieri Orchids. It was a beautiful The genus was created by Dr. Lindley in Gen.et classic odontoglossum white with red markings. Spec.Orch.Pl. 1832.Aspasia epidendroides, the Norman’s Orchids, Ontario, California had a type species was collected by CUMING in lovely Miltassia Aztec ’Nala’ HCC/AOS which Panama and western Columbia and was described took a first place ribbon in its class. Stonehurst in HOOKER’S Journal of Botany 1834 by Orchids had a display of paphilopedilums, LINDLEY. miltonias, and odontoglossums. Included with The genus contains several species, the odontoglossums was a lovely Odm La SCHLECHTER 1922 mentions 8, and Williams Hougue Bie and Oda. La Fosse. The later won 1974 only agrees with 5 species. They are third place for best odontoglossum. It was a distributed in Middle- and South America from maroon well marked flower with many flowers Guatemala to Brazil. on a stem that was well held. The later was Typical features, which distinguish Aspasia from o^er genera are the column, partly connated illustrated in Allan Moon’s talk on albino odontoglossums. Kaoru Oka Orchids, Honolulu with the lip and sometimes with the base of the showed Odcdm. Tiger Butter x Odm Pierebeck petals and are the large fleshy anthera. The plants Gold. This was well flowered with flat yellow are said to flower freely in culture. Artificially flowers attractively marked with reddish brown. produced hybrid genus: It won a blue ribbon in its class. Odcdm. Tiger Aspoglossum (Aspasia x Odontoglossum) Hamburhren x Oda Remberance won a second Aspasia ftp'dfttiHmiHfts Lindl. 1834 place ribbon. The flowers were reddish brown with a yellow background. Both of these plants were particularly well grown. In the South The medium-sized plants grow epiphytic, the Eastern Pennsylvania display was a very nice stalked bulbs are surrounded by 2-3 foliaceous yellow Bellara Tahoma Glacier. It held fourteen sheaths and bear two rather leathery lanceolate flowers and buds and won a third place ribbon. leaves; the few-flowered infloresczens arises The New Hampshire Orchid Society display held from the base of psuedobulbs, covered with a Vuyl. Cambria ’Lensings Favorite’ The several bracts and bearing about 4-6 faintly flowers were white with a red background and fragrant flowers; the sepals oblongate, 20mm won a second place ribbon. Strawberry Creek long greenish with broad transverse braun-purple Orchids of McKinnleyville, CA produced a bands; the petals similar, somewhat shorter, lovely display of both cut flowers and flowering violett coloured; lip basal adnate to the column, plants. Within the display was a Odm Pumistor x then detached forming a broad blade, white with Rebecca which won a second place ribbon. purple blotches in its center; disc consisting in 4 These plants were grown in peat pots and in a yellow lamellae; column 20mm long, tinged with peat and perlite mixture. The plants showed lavender. excellent vigor. Silva Orchids, Neptune, New Habitat: Epiphytic on distichious trees at an Jersey also had a lovely Bellara Tahoma Glacier altitude about 700 m in hot climate. ’Wilma’ with 14 flowers. Distribution: From Guatemala to Columbia in . (continued on page 10) dry forest of the Pacific region. Newsletter 2 November 1992 Comparettia Poepp. & Endl. 1836 leaf fleshy. Inflorescence from the base of bulb, arching, 25 cm long, with up to 12 flowers. This well known genus, established by POEPPIG Flower mauve-lilac spots; dorsal sepalum and and ENDLICH in November Gen. et Sp. 1836, petals alike in size and shape 15 x 5 mm; lateral contains about five species, distributed about sepals connate, forming a spur 50 mm long. Lip Middle and South America from Mexico to obcordate 25 x 30 mm, bicalcarate. Column 10 Brazil. The type species. Comp, falcata was mm long, wingless, with an infrastigmatic plate collected by POEPPIG in Peru, near Cassapi. at base. The chief character that distinguishes Habitat: epiphytic growing on thin twigs in Comparettia from other genera is the slender valleys, very humid during night, pretty dry spur, consisting in two tail-like prolongations, during daytime. Altitude 1000-1600 meters. produced from the lip base, which are wrapped Distribution: Columbia (Cundinamarca) by the long tubular mentum of the lateral sepals. Triana has discovered the little interesting plant The plants are rather small, the dwarf bulbs bear in the vicinity of Bogota in 1878. He had a single leathery leave, the slender pendulous described it in collaboration with Reichenbach f. floral scape bears brightly coloured flowers. in Gard. Chron./H p. 524. decorated with the typical kidney-shaped lip and Artificial hybrid genus: Odontorettia = the long spur. Lemboglossum (0dm.) bictoniense x Comparettia Hybridization with Comparettia is often used in macroplectrum case of their bright colour. Comparettia Speciosa* Artificially produced hybrid genus: An epiphytic plant with very short, subcylindric Odontorettia (Lemboglossum (Odontoglossum) x stems sheathed with pale, membranous, acute Comparettia scales. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, acute, 10-25 cm long, up to 4.2 cm broad. Inflrescences up to 50 Comparettia falcata cm long, racemose or branching, laxly 7- to Poepp. &. Endl. 1836 many-flowered towards apex. Flowers about 3.5 The plant dwarf with short stems, psuedobulbs cm high, bright orange-scarlet; column-wings small, swathed in small foliaceous sheaths, green, anther white. Dorsal sepal ovate, clustered with a single leathery leave, green, acuminate, 1.4 cm long, 0.4 cm broad: lateral purplish beneath, 12 cm long. Scape arising from sepals connate, concave, acute; spur slender, the base of bulb, nodding, up to 20 cm long, 5-7 obscurely pubescent, up to 3.5 cm long, longer flowered (or more), bracts small. The bright than the pedicel and ovary. Petals ovate, coloured purple-lilac flowers 15 mm across; acuminate, 1.2 cm long, 0.6 cm broad. Lip Sepals and Petals alike in size, 8x5 mm, the shortly, narrowly clawed, 3-lobed, up to 2.4 cm lateral sepals connate, prolonged into an elongate long, 3 cm broad; side lobes auriculate; mid-lobe tubular spur. Lip obcordate, 10 mm long, subquadrate to transversely oblong, emarginate, bicalcarate at the base. Column wingless. 1.7 cm long. Column short, winged, 0.8 cm Habitat: Epiphytic growing, with long thin roots long;anther beaked very loosely attached to the twigs of solitary, Distribution Ecuador. small trees like Guavas, Oranges, Oaks, History Discovered on the Eastern Cordillera of Crescentias in the savannah region.