Santa Clara Valley Orchid Society Established 1951 Helping You to Become a Better Grower. June 2011 SCVOS Newsletter. Speaker Notes June 1st Meeting

Santa Clara Valley Orchid Society Established 1951 Helping You to Become a Better Grower June 2011 SCVOS Newsletter (please note that links in electronic copies are functional) Speaker Notes June 1st Meeting Longtime SCVOS board member, Ed Nazzal, has been growing orchids for about 27 years. He has a varied collection of cool growers that grow outdoor, and a small greenhouse where he grows mostly paphs and phrags along with few other species. As a retired chemist he has a great interest in the nutritional aspect of orchids. He is also a hiker; he hikes the bay area hills at least once or twice a week, weather permitting. He also enjoys photography so always carry a camera on his hikes to take pictures, mostly of flowers including orchids and other wildlife. We are lucky in the bay area to have so many state and county parks, along with lots of preserves and open spaces. Those areas are great habitats for animals, birds, trees and many wild flowers, including orchids. Of the 32 species of orchids that grow in California, about half grow in the bay area. Some are very rare and probably no longer exist in their original habitat. But if you look there are few species of orchids that are still abundant, and reside not very far from paved roads requiring only very short hikes to view. Ed will discuss some of those, where one can find some of them and will share some pictures that were taken in their native habitats. This promises to be an unusual and very interesting presentation. Who knew that 32 orchids grow in the wilds of California? C. gaskelliana Blue Dragon AM/AOS Ed Nazzal Presidents Corner Upcoming Events for 2011: June speaker: Ed Nazzal July: SCVOS BBQ August Speaker: Marie Turkel September Speaker:T.J. Hartung Orchids of Mexico October:SCVOS Auction 1

Santa Clara Valley Orchid Society Established 1951 Helping You to Become a Better Grower June 2011 SCVOS Newsletter (please note that links in electronic copies are functional) May Meeting On May 4, 2011 our meeting featured as speaker Jeff Trimble, pat President of the Cymbidium Society of America. Jeff spoke on the history and development of white Cymbidiums. His slide show was really informative and we had a terrific question and answer session on growing Cymbidiums. Jeff brought a wonderful opportunity table which had members scrambling to buy tickets. If you are not already a member of the Cymbidium Society of America, we highly recommend it. The bi-monthly CSA Journal is great and also covers paphs and phrags. C. gaskelliana Blue Dragon AM/AOS Membership Last month we had two new members, Joseph Kautz and Debbie Matsumura. We welcome them to our Society and hope they enjoy the activities as much as we all do. If you have not paid your 2011 dues, you will not be getting this newsletter. SCVOS News I f you are not getting your newsletter via email, please be sure to give your currently correct address to Ed Nazzal, paphman@gmail.com. A ll plants brought for sale by members must be properly labeled, disease free, and priced in even dollar amounts. Ten percent of the sale price goes to the club treasurer, Marvin Bell, before you leave. We rely on the honor system. Thank you to those abiding by this rule. Jeff Trimble Refreshments Announcement: All members with last names starting with O-R please bring in refreshments for May 2011. And, you get a free raffle ticket for the Opportunity Table! 2

V.P. Peter Brown Angelic Nguyen Opportunity Table Curtis Mitchell Remember, for much more information about orchids, links, our future schedule, care sheets, contact information, previous newsletters, and lots of pictures of plants and people, visit the website: santaclaravalleyorchidsociety.org/links.htm The SCVOS: Helping You to Become a Better Grower 4

SCVOS Online S o much online check it out!! We have a Facebook page. Have a look at it on Facebook! Also see Matt Bond s Flickr page, and Eric Hunt s SCVOS Show page, and the Internet Orchid Species Encyclopedia, which the SCVOS helps fund. Member Susan Wiedman also has a new link at http://www.upclosewithmothernature.com/ Board Meeting T he June board meeting will occur on the 15th of June at 7:30 PM at Ed Nazzal s house @ 1487 Monteregre San Jose, CA. If you d like to make an announcement, please contact Kristina by phone at (408) 229-2747 or by email at kbellwolf1@sbcglobal.net. Participating on the board is a very rewarding and infinitely educational experience highly recommended! Please come out and support your society! Your 2011 Board SCVOS Board T he Santa Clara Valley Orchid Society is a non-profit organization that meets the first Wednesday of each month at the American Legion Hall, 1504 Minnesota Avenue, in the Willow Glen neighborhood of San Jose, California. The meeting starts at 7:30 PM. The skill session starts at about 7:00 PM. Officers for 2011 Kristina Bell, President (408) 229-2747 kbellwolf1@sbcglobal.net Peter Brown, Vice President (510) 755-3654 pjb@presol.com Sandi Fox (408) 683-0145 sfox@greybeard.com Marvin Bell, Treasurer (408) 229-2747 marvskis@sbcglobal.net Directors for 2011 Ed Nazzal (408) 268-3573 paphman@gmail.com Eanghak Quach (408) 629-3794 epigarden@yahoo.com Ann Stuart (408) 267-3397 annystuart@yahoo.com Marie Lofton (408) 629-0264 smlofton@pacbell.net Dave Smitt (408) 866-0956 davejsmitt@gmail.com 2011 Auction Chair Ed Nazzal (408) 268-3573 paphman@gmail.com Membership Peter Brown (510) 755-3654 pjb@presol.com Sandi Fox (408) 683-0145 sfox@greybeard.com Member Database Ed Nazzal (408) 268-3573 paphman@gmail.com! Newsletter Dave Smitt, Editor (408 ) 866-0956 davejsmitt@gmail.com Dave and Ofelia Woodfill, Mailing (408) 248-5983 ofiew@comcast.net Publicity Susan Wiedmann (408) 979-1726 Hmgbird@pacbell.net Library Marie Lofton (408) 629-0264 smlofton@pacbell.net Plant Opportunity Tickets Dave and Ofelia Woodfill (408) 248-5983 ofiew@comcast.com Kitchen Crew Conrad Kumata ckk1boater@aol.com Liz Gehrig (408) 363-6901 eagehrig@aol.com 2011 Greenhouse Tour Doug Pulley (408) 354-1412 dpulley1@comcast.net 2011 Show and Sale Tim Culbertson, Co-Chair, Secretary (301) 641-2556 timc@harker.org Eanghak Quach, Co-Chair, Judging (408) 629-3794 epigarden@yahoo.com Peter Brown, Co-Chair, Sales (510) 755-3654 pjb@presol.com2011 Holiday Party Kristina Bell (408) 229-2747 5

Upcoming Shows June, 2011 3-5 San Jose Japantown Orchid Exposition 550 N. 6 th Street, San Jose, CA July, 2011 SCVOS BBQ 6 th 6:30 PM American Legion Hall 1504 Minnesota Ave. San Jose A-M bring Side Dishes M-Z bring desserts 8 th 10 th Santa Barbara Orchid Estate Earl Warren Fairgrounds Santa Barbara, CA Brookside Open House Pictures Brookside Orchids had their annual open house on Saturday May 21 st. I saw quite a few of SCVOS members there buying orchids. Brookside at HWY 280 and Alpine Road is close and has a lot of quality orchids for sale. They also have an extensive boarding program. 6

!"#$%&'()*!&+%&) Dendrochilum (Ddc.) is a genus of epiphytic, lithophytic and, rarely, terrestrial orchids. The name comes from two Ancient Greek words: dendron (tree) and either cheilos (lip) or chilos (green food), which alludes to either the flower s characteristic large lip or the plant s epiphytic growth. The exact number of species varies from source to source, from as low as 100 to 390. The high number can be explained by the fact that some are synonyms or varieties of the same species. They occur at higher elevations in humid rainforests, from Southeast Asia to New Guinea and as far north as southern Taiwan. Acknowledged centers of diversity are Borneo and the Philippines. The genus was first described by Carl Ludwig Blume in 1825, using Dendrochilum aurantiacum. Johannes Jacobus Smith, an eminent Dutch botanist, named many of these orchids. Acoridium and Platyclinis, subgenera of Dendrochilum, used to be separate genera. The other two subgenera are Dendrochilum and Pseudacoridium. The subgenus Dendrochilum has its center of diversity on Sumatra. Pseudacoridium is endemic to the Philippines. The Philippines is also the center of diversity for Acoridium. Platyclinis has it on Borneo. The Philippines, according to the website http://www.dendrochilum.com/, is the only country where all subgenera are found. The website also added that there are still new species waiting to be described. Members of this genus are characterized by sympodial growth, much like the way Cattleya and Oncidium grow. However, the species can be divided into two groups, the clump formers (e.g. Dendrochilum magnum) and the creepers (e.g. Dendrochilum aurantiacum, the type species). The following is Jay Pfahl s botanic description of the genus: ovoid to 7 cylindrical pseudobulbs that are basally sheathed by brown to green thin bracts and carrying from 1 to 2 apical, tough, erect, lanceolate to elliptic leaves with a slender petiole. The Dendrochilum website states that some Borneo species of subgenus Platyclinis section Eurybrachium have orange, yellow, red and even red suffused with green colored pseudobulbs. Inflorescence is of three types: synanthous (the inflorescence grows with the growing leaf from the developing pseudobulb, e.g. Dendrochilum glumaceum); heteranthous (the inflorescence grows from the rhizome independent of pseudobulb, e.g. Dendrochilum tenellum); and hysteranthous - the inflorescence develops after the leaf is fully developed. Inflorescence can grow to a length of 50 cm in the case of Dendrochilum magnum. Flowers are small, star-like flowers with three petals and three sepals, arranged in two rows on erect or arching pendant racemes. The flowers are scented, which can be classified as either fragrant or smelly. One can only surmise what the pollinator is from the kind of scent a particular species emits. Dendrochilum.com lists the following growing tips for this genus: There should be plenty of air movement. The plants should be kept moist and never be allowed to dry out. Watering should be from the bottom and not from above the plant. Humidity must be high. There needs to be a difference between day and night temperature. Water should have low salinity.

Ddc. yuccaefolium Ddc. Glumaceum Ddc. bicallosum Kokomo Ddc. pangasinense Ddc. latifolium var. macranthum 8

MARK YOUR CALENDAR FOR THE NINTH ORCHID DIGEST SPEAKER S DAY!! ONCIDIINAE Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California Saturday, June 18, 2011 12:30 pm to 8:00 pm in Friends Hall FEATURING All Genera Flower Display Orchid Sales Expert Lectures Dinner Remember!! AOS judging at 10:00 AM Open at 11:00AM to bring your blooming plants for the flower display Prize for best species and best hybrid VENDORS: J & L Orchids; Cal Orchids; Andy s Orchids; Sunset Valley Orchids, Orchid Inn Tickets: $60 ($70 at door) for afternoon Seminars, Wine and Cheese Happy Hour; Dinner and Evening Entertainment Please Contact: Simone Friend, 4349 Dogwood Ave., Seal Beach, CA 90740 Phone: (562) 431-1247 E-mail: orchidsimonef@aol.com Make Your Reservations Now! Lecturers: Cordelia Head, Jim Rassmann, Steve Beckendorf, Howard Liebman Dinner Speaker: Mark Chase 9