Guest Author: Daniela Dutra tells about Prosthechea citrina, Mexican Orchid

By Daniela Dutra (ddutra) on April 26, 2010

Our guest author, Daniela Dutra, is an orchid researcher and conservationist who is studying the demography of Prosthechea citrina in the wild in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. Prosthechea citrina is the orchid she is currently researching. She also describes the impact of her research in general and how we can help.

Introducing Prosthechea citrina

One of the orchid species I am studying in Mexico is Prosthechea citrina (Lex.) W.E.Higgins (1997), an endemic plant to the southern states. I want to share a few pictures I just took during the last few weeks of field research with you and also some information on this beautiful plant.

There are many local names for the species, but most people here refer to it as lemoncillo. The flowers are bright yellow and sometimes plants will have white on the tip of the lip. The first time I saw the plant in bloom I thought the name originated from the color yellow, but as it was explained to me later, it actually comes from the amazing citrus fragrance that the flowers expel during the day. That is one of the reasons the plant is a old time favorite to people in the state of Oaxaca. During Semana Santa (Holy Week) people from some indigenous communities will collect the plants to decorate altars and churches and also to sell them in markets in the city. This time of the year often coincides with the peak blooming time in April. Although this species can be easily found in the wild, conservationists in the area are worried that the species may be threatened due to over collecting.

P. citrina grows epiphytically in high altitude dry oak and pine forests (4000-9000 feet) . It is an interesting ecosystem because it may look like what you would find in pine-oak forests in the Eastern part of the US, but here in Oaxaca you will also find agaves and many species of cacti growing among these temperate species. Also, the diversity of bromeliads in the area is astonishing, everywhere on the trees you can see splashes of red, pink and purple from their inflorescences.

However, you will also find P. citrina growing in other habitats that are savanna -like with the trees spaced out among patches of grass. The species can tolerate very dry and hot environments.

P. citrina belongs to the Encyclia alliance and it was recently regrouped in the genus Prosthechea where it was first placed by Higgins in 1997, but in the past, it was moved to the genus Euchile by Withner (1998). Due to continuous research on the phylogeny of the orchid family, recently this species was put back in the genus Prosthechea. If you are interested in finding more information on this species, you may want to search for it online using the previous and current genera.

Currently, I am studying the demography of P. citrina in the wild. Demographic studies are great for understanding how plant populations are structured and how they change over time. This is extremely important for conservation initiatives in the area. Because people harvest these plants, you want to know the impact of harvest on the wild populations. One of the outcomes of this research will be a set of recommendations including the number of plants people are allowed to harvest every year (if any, depending on the populations). I am also looking at the breeding system and pollination of the species.

If you happen to visit Mexico in the future, I highly recommend that you go out see the native orchids. There is nothing like seeing them in the wild.

Daniela's Bio: People always ask me how I first got interested in orchids. There is actually a funny story behind that. When I was doing my undergrad in Florida, I lived in an apartment complex that had a separate area for garbage collection. One night, I walked outside to throw some trash out and noticed that someone had thrown out a plant. I had lots of plants at home, but I had no idea what this one was with no flower to help me identify it. I brought it back to the apartment and put it next to my other plants on a shady patio. Months went by and I forgot about the weird plant with droopy long leaves until one day I saw an inflorescence starting to grow. A few weeks later I had a cascade of white flowers with magenta dots. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I was hooked. The orchid fever started. Although my first orchid was a Phalaenopsis hybrid, I was interested in native orchid species from the beginning and soon found out that Florida had about 130 native species that were most threaded or endangered of extinction.

I was a biology major at Harriet Honors College at Florida Atlantic University and ecology and conservation were the main reasons why I started going to school. It was an easy decision to study orchids for my undergraduate thesis and again later on for a master degree at University of Florida. At UF, I worked with conservation projects for many of Florida’s natives species including the amazing Cyrtopodium punctatum, the largest North American orchid.After I was done with my masters, I decided to study other endangered plants to broader my experience with other families that did not involve the Orchidaceae. I started a Ph.D. at University of Hawaii and there it was easy to get away from orchids. Hawaii has only 3 native orchid species and they are extremely hard to find. However, the idea of not studying orchids was a hard one to follow and I started looking for the native orchid species in Hawaii. After hiking up Mount Ka’ala, the hardest hike in the island of Oahu, to see this little Liparis hawaiensis growing in a very wet and cold bog, I decided that field work there would be very hard at those conditions. I started working with other plant families trying to decide the topic of my dissertation. I struggled because I could not decide on anything, everything sounded boring. Then I realized that what drove me to research was orchids. That’s where my passion was and to do a Ph.D. without passion is like putting yourself through torture.

Now I am in Oaxaca, Mexico, researching orchids again. Here I focus on the conservation of orchids species that are culturally important. Oaxaca is a very diverse state, both in biodiversity and people. Here, more than 30 languages are spoken by indigenous communities and orchids play a big role on the cultural festivities. Certain species are used to adorn churches, others are given away during Christmas to be put in altars, and other species are planted on graves and have an enormous significance with their white flowers. Orchid conservation initiatives here have to take into consideration the role of people. In this area, 80% of forest land is owned by indigenous communities that depend on the forest products for their subsistence. Here, people’s needs must be taken into consideration when conservation plans are being designed.

As a orchid researcher and conservationist I feel obliged to leave you with my two cents on orchid conservation. I believe orchid growers play a very large role on species protection. Knowing about orchids in the wild and making educated choices when you purchase plants can be very powerful. For example, knowing what you are buying on the internet and orchid shows can have a big impact on what goes on in the wild. Most orchid growers will sell only greenhouse propagated plants, but it is important to ask before you buy. Some people will sell wild collected plants and one of the major problems in orchid conservation is over collection. I remember being on a orchid show in Florida and seeing all these amazing Myrmecophila orchids for sell (one of my favorite genera). After chatting with the seller, I realized all the plants in his booth had been wild collected in Mexico and brought in to the US where they were acclimatized. It made me wonder about the wild populations of these orchids and the impact of collection on them. This is a constant battle because at the local level, people in developing countries may depend on plants for their subsistence, so buying plants that have been certified and produced based on a management plan can positively affect conservation because you will be supporting local initiatives that promote conservation practices. However, buying plants from a collector who traveled to another country and bought wild collected plants from unknown sources can generate negative effects for wild orchid populations. It’s always good to ask before you buy.
If you have any questions, feel free to email me at ddutra@hawaii. edu
Saludos, aloha and cheers!
Daniela

All photos are Daniela's despite Boojum's watermarks!

About Daniela Dutra
People always ask me how I first got interested in orchids. There is actually a funny story behind that. When I was doing my undergrad in Florida, I lived in an apartment complex that had a separate area for garbage collection. One night, I walked outside to throw some trash out and noticed that someone had thrown out a plant. I had lots of plants at home, but I had no idea what this one was with no flower to help me identify it. I brought it back to the apartment and put it next to my other plants on a shady patio. Months went by and I forgot about the weird plant with droopy long leaves until one day I saw an inflorescence starting to grow. A few weeks later I had a cascade of white flowers with magenta dots. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I was hooked. The orchid fever started. Although my first orchid was a Phalaenopsis hybrid, I was interested in native orchid species from the beginning and soon found out that Florida had about 130 native species that were most threaded or endangered of extinction.

I was a biology major at Harriet Honors College at Florida Atlantic University and ecology and conservation were the main reasons why I started going to school. It was an easy decision to study orchids for my undergraduate thesis and again later on for a master degree at University of Florida. At UF, I worked with conservation projects for many of Florida’s natives species including the amazing Cyrtopodium punctatum, the largest North American orchid.
After I was done with my masters, I decided to study other endangered plants to broader my experience with other families that did not involve the Orchidaceae. I started a Ph.D. at University of Hawaii and there it was easy to get away from orchids. Hawaii has only 3 native orchid species and they are extremely hard to find. However, the idea of not studying orchids was a hard one to follow and I started looking for the native orchid species in Hawaii. After hiking up Mount Ka’ala, the hardest hike in the island of Oahu, to see this little Liparis hawaiensis growing in a very wet and cold bog, I decided that field work there would be very hard at those conditions. I started working with other plant families trying to decide the topic of my dissertation. I struggled because I could not decide on anything, everything sounded boring. Then I realized that what drove me to research was orchids. That’s where my passion was and to do a Ph.D. without passion is like putting yourself through torture.

Now I am in Oaxaca, Mexico, researching orchids again. Here I focus on the conservation of orchids species that are culturally important. Oaxaca is a very diverse state, both in biodiversity and people. Here, more than 30 languages are spoken by indigenous communities and orchids play a big role on the cultural festivities. Certain species are used to adorn churches, others are given away during Christmas to be put in altars, and other species are planted on graves and have an enormous significance with their white flowers. Orchid conservation initiatives here have to take into consideration the role of people. In this area, 80% of forest land is owned by indigenous communities that depend on the forest products for their subsistence. Here, people’s needs must be taken into consideration when conservation plans are being designed.

As a orchid researcher and conservationist I feel obliged to leave you with my two cents on orchid conservation. I believe orchid growers play a very large role on species protection. Knowing about orchids in the wild and making educated choices when you purchase plants can be very powerful. For example, knowing what you are buying on the internet and orchid shows can have a big impact on what goes on in the wild. Most orchid growers will sell only greenhouse propagated plants, but it is important to ask before you buy. Some people will sell wild collected plants and one of the major problems in orchid conservation is over collection. I remember being on a orchid show in Florida and seeing all these amazing Myrmecophila orchids for sell (one of my favorite genera). After chatting with the seller, I realized all the plants in his booth had been wild collected in Mexico and brought in to the US where they were acclimatized. It made me wonder about the wild populations of these orchids and the impact of collection on them. This is a constant battle because at the local level, people in developing countries may depend on plants for their subsistence, so buying plants that have been certified and produced based on a management plan can positively affect conservation because you will be supporting local initiatives that promote conservation practices. However, buying plants from a collector who traveled to another country and bought wild collected plants from unknown sources can generate negative effects for wild orchid populations. It’s always good to ask before you buy.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at ddutra@hawaii. edu

Saludos, aloha and cheers!

Daniela

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Thank you Ursula Apr 27, 2010 9:32 AM 3