Can anyone ID this plant and possibly the black spots on the leaves? It was neglected for a while and was mostly in the shade. I added dirt and some miracle grow recently. There's the same plant nearby in a hillside garden (in the ground). The location is on the Southern California coast, about 200 yards from the ocean. Thanks for any help/tips on how to care for it. Oh, it has a shoot coming off of it, and the one on the hillside garden has several shoots coming off of it. Are these natural, or did a gardener start them? Okay, that was more questions that I should be allowed. ;-) Thanks
That's definitely Epidendrum, commonly called "Flor de Cristo" in Latin America. I can't quite tell - are the black spots only appearing on the leaves once that shoot has flowered? If that's the case, then what you're seeing is natural leaf death. If you see the spots on leaves that belong to unbloomed shoots, then it's either fungus or mildew and you need to spray the plants with fungicide. I like Copper Sulfate for that. The complete shoot coming off the roots is a new plant; the orchid does that naturally when it feels rootbound. You can cut it off the stolon it's attached to and root it in a new pot, if you wish.
Hi Edleigh7 and Lorax --- Thanks much for both of your replies. I love both of the names "crucifix orchid" and "flor de christo" -- both are so much more interesting than "epidendrum". But again, thanks. I've heard in the meantime it may be called "poor man's orchid" (name?) here in the USA, which pales in comparison to the other names! To Lorax: Thanks for the detailed tips on this plant. From what you said, the spots must be a mildew/fungus, but I'm attaching a pic of the plant in the hillside garden, to obtain your opinion? I guess it's mildew/fungus, one way or the other. Let me know if you can. The shoots have been replanted/repotted from that particular plant, and I'm going to check out the copper sulfate recommendation. Is copper sulfate available in most garden stores? Please let me know. I hope the shoots survive, since they have some of those black spots already. Thanks again for the info from you both! Cheers Gruenerdaum
Mildew, I think. It's a pretty common affliction of Epidendrums, and it doesn't seem to kill them. You've also got a keiki (a new plant) coming on that one bloom stalk - once the last flowers are spent, you can cut it off below the aerial roots and plant it separately. I don't know from garden store availability in the states; I buy Copper Sulfate at the chemist's here and make my own 2% dilution. However, since it's a fairly common fungicide, you should be able to get it at nurseries. Ask around; they may have other reccomendations. "Poor Man's Orchid" is a neat common name, and it's quite accurate; the Epis are among the least expensive and easiest to care for of the orchid family. In the wild (at least here in Ecuador), they grow in full sun in desertlike conditions, straight out of rock walls. I've seen them above the treeline on active volcanoes. So really, you have to work at it to kill them (as the State does, they're a weed in some provinces).
