Stanhopea posadae

Jenny & Braem 1993

Native to Colombia (endemic).

Edited 15 May 2007
© Nina Rach

Stan. posadae 'Kennedy' photo by Doug Pulley

This is a very attractive stanhopea! The large flowers are tawny gold with nicely overlapping sepals and petals. The lateral sepals are broad and unspotted; the petals and dorsal sepal have large chocolate brown or reddish spots. The lip is white; small chocolate-brown speckles on broad epichile (midlobe), with the appearance of oreo cookie crumbs.

Photo at left of Stanhopea posadae 'Kennedy' by Doug Pulley.

The species is named in honor of Colombian orchid grower, Juan Felipe Posada, Medellín.

The original specimen upon which the recently published description was based, was collected by Rudolf Jenny on 22 July 1993. The holotype was filed in Geneva at the herbarium of the Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques de la Ville de Genève.

Stan. posadae seed photomicrograph by Lacy Powell

Photomicrograph of Stanhopea posadae seed taken from a green pod, at right, by Lacey Powell, Meyers Conservatory, Jan. 2004. Her comments: "Seed is pale yellow to the naked eye, and lightweight and easily becomes airborne. Medium sized seeds are balloons, sometimes curved, and have moderately small sized egg-shaped dense embryos centrally located which are 1/5 the length of the seed. 96% of the seeds appear to have good embryos."

Stan. posadae seedling, photo by Nina Rach

Photo at right shows a Stanhopea seedling in a 4-in. pot, May 2007.

According to Index Kewensis (IK), this species was published "contrary to Art. 37.5 ICBN (1988)." [Intl Code of Botanical Nomenclature]

"37.5. For the name of a new taxon of the rank of genus or below published on or after 1 January 1990, indication of the type must include one of the words "typus" or "holotypus", or its abbreviation, or its equivalent in a modern language (see also Rec. 37A and Art. 38.2)."

Stanhopea Solar Flare 'Naked Lady' photo from Doug Pulley Registered hybrids:

Stanhopea Solar Flare (posadae x tricornis) -- reg. in 2002 [Photo at left of cultivar 'Naked Lady' by Doug Pulley]

Stanhopea Nirvana (posadae x martiana) -- reg. 2003 by Doug Pulley

Stanhopea Hidden Agenda (insignis x posadae) -- reg. in 2004 by Doug Pulley

Printed References:

Rodrigo R. Escobar [ed.] (1998) Native Colombian Orchids, Volume 6: Supplement Leucohyle-Zootrophion. Medellin: Compania Litografica Nacional S.A., pp. 847-1069. [pp. 1022-1033: Stan. cf. costaricensis, ospinae, stevensonii, wardii, jenischiana, posadae, shuttleworthii, candida, annulata, pulla, avicula, tricornis, impressa, xherrenhusana, reichenbachiana]

Rudolf Jenny (June 2004) "The Genus Stanhopea. Part 2: S. ___ to S. ___," in: Caesiana 22, Supplement. ___ color photos, __ p., Italian/English, covers 25+ species, bibliography, checklist.

Rudolf Jenny (1995) "The Gongorinae: 7. Stanhopea: part 15," in: Caesiana no. 5, pp. 7-28. [S. maculosa, S. napoensis, S. novogaliciana, S. opsinae, S. posadae]

Rudolf Jenny and Guido J. Braem (1993) "A new Stanhopea from Colombia," in: Schlechteriana 4(3):125-127. [original publication of Stanhopea posadae]

Web References:

Index Kewensis

International Plant Names Index [IPNI], www.ipni.org

Photo of Stanhopea posadae 'Kennedy' on Doug Pulley's website. Single backbulb divisions of this plant are available from Doug for $100.

Stanhopea posadae blooming-size seedlings for sale.

Ingrid Pape's website (Germany)

Comments? Send e-mail: stanhopea@autrevie.com.