Galeandra

Lindley 1830

Pronunciation:

gal-ee-AN-dra (click on the name to hear it spoken)
Tribe: Cymbidieae
Subtribe: Cyrtopodiinae

John Lindley proposed this genus in 1830. The generic epithet means helmet shaped and refers to the shape of the anther cap. The type species is G. baueri. The genus is characterized by the elongate, cylindrical or spindle-shaped pseudobulbs and thin, narrow, heavily veined, distichous leaves at the nodes. The inflorescences are produced from the top of the pseudobulbs and are few to many-flowered. Most of the species have very showy flowers with tubular lips. In most species, plants occur as epiphytes at low elevations between sea level to 500 meters. A few occur at higher elevations as terrestrials. Most commonly known are G. baueri, G. batemanii, and G. devoniana.

Number of species:

The World Monocot Checklist contains 18 accepted names. (2007)

Distribution:

The American tropics from Mexico to Bolivia, especially the Amazon region.

Galeandra batemanii photo of inflorescence - ©2009 Greg Allikas
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Gal. devoniana flower closeup - ©2009 Greg Allikas
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Gal. dives - ©2009 Greg Allikas
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Gal. claesii 'Joe' CBR/AOS - ©2009 AOS archives
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Gal. greenwoodiana 'Orchid Art'
CHM/AOS - ©2009 Charles Marden Fitch
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Gal. minax 'Okemos'
CHM/AOS - ©2009 James McCulloch
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**--- C U L T U R E ---**
Temperature:	Warm to intermediate.
Light:	Bright light with some shading in the middle of the day.
Water-Humidity:	Water twice weekly during the growing season. Withhold water after the growths have matured but not enough to cause the pseudobulbs to shrivel.
Fertilizer:	Apply a good balanced fertilizer twice monthly during the growing season. Cut back on the fertilizer when the growth is mature
Potting:	Many of the species can be grown as terrestrials in a well drained mix. They can also be grown in baskets.
References:	Bechtel, Cribb, Launert, The Manual of Cultivated Orchid Species, 3rd edition, MIT Press, 1992. Pridgeon, Alec, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Orchids,Timber Press, Portland, OR, 1992.
Author:	Marvin Ragan – September, 2006
E-mail:	Encmaj1@bellsouth.net

--- C U L T U R E ---

Temperature:

Warm to intermediate.

Light:

Bright light with some shading in the middle of the day.

Water-Humidity:

Water twice weekly during the growing season. Withhold water after the growths have matured but not enough to cause the pseudobulbs to shrivel.

Fertilizer:

Apply a good balanced fertilizer twice monthly during the growing season. Cut back on the fertilizer when the growth is mature

Potting:

Many of the species can be grown as terrestrials in a well drained mix. They can also be grown in baskets.

References:

Bechtel, Cribb, Launert, The Manual of Cultivated Orchid Species, 3rd edition, MIT Press, 1992. Pridgeon, Alec, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Orchids,Timber Press, Portland, OR, 1992.

Author:

Marvin Ragan – September, 2006

E-mail:

Encmaj1@bellsouth.net

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