A Native Florida Orchid

Florida has nearly half of the species of orchids that are found in the United States and Canada.

One orchid that is native to Florida is probably familar to every orchid grower in Florida.

Encyclia tampensis. This orchid is also known as the Florida butterfly orchid and is native to Florida, the Bahamas and Cuba.

It grows abundantly in the central and southern counties, especially along waterways. Many orchid lovers grow these in their backyard with nearly no attention at all. They will grow on a wide variety of trees, including live oak, red maple, gum, bald cypress, buttonwood, pop ash, and pond apple. They like the high humidity of Florida and will take temperatures down to freezing, although will do better with temperatures no lower than 40 F.

They normally bloom in June and July, but they can also be found in bloom in every other month of the year.

Plants in cultivation have been known to have over 100 flower spikes with over 1500 flowers. The flowers have various shades of yellow, copper, green, bronze and purple. There is also a white form of the flower.

Do you have an ENCYCLIA TAMPENSIS? If so, let me know about your experiences with growing this orchid. Do you have it in a pot? If so, what kind of media? Or do you grow it mounted? What is it mounted on?