Cynoches, The Swan Orchids

by Stephen Dowdall, submitted by Marianna Max

Stephen is a friend who grows this and many other genera in his home in Galesburg, IL. Stephen grows indoors in his basement under lights but moves many of his plants outdoors in the summertime.

In 1991 and 1999 two new species of Cycnoches were described that soon had many in the orchid world discussing and desiring these two fantastic species. They were Cycnoches herrenhusanum and Cycnoches barthiorum. The first was a clear golden yellow, often with tints of green, in a flower that was relatively large and flat. The second had what can be described as a more cupped flower, again large, but of a most unusual coloration. It has a light green background where it appeared that the rusty reddish colors of the back of the flower had bled through and presented a rusty peach tone with darker spots. These two species are probably the most desirable in the Genus and sell for fairly high prices.

Cycnoches barthiorum

Cycnoches are epiphytic lowland orchids in the Tribe Cymbidieae, Subtribe Catasetinae. They are closely allied to Catasetum, Mormodes, Clowesia and Dressleria. The name Cycnoches is derived from the Greek words ‘kyknos’ meaning swan and ‘auchen’ meaning neck and is in reference to the thin arching column of the male flowers. More about the flowers will be covered later. They are New World orchids found growing from sea level to around 1800 feet or so in elevation. They are found from Mexico down through Central America into the Amazon Basin of South America. They have cigar shaped fleshy pseudobulbs of several internodes topped by a few thin heavily veined large leaves. The pseudobulbs themselves can be from approximately 8 inches tall to more than 20 + inches tall. As a general rule, the taller the plant, the thicker the pseudobulb. The flowers which are produced on the apical portion of the pseudobulb can be single or up to as many as 30 + on an inflorescence. They can range from about an inch in size to over 6 inches. The inflorescence can be erect to arching to pendulous. Each pseudobulb, depending on the species, can produce one to several spikes with some producing up to 6 or more. The flowers are fairly long lived especially when compared to Catasetums and many are extremely fragrant. You will need to smell them yourself to decide on a description. Many smell sweetly spicy to me.

Cycnoches lehmanii

Cycnoches were named as a new Genus in 1832 by John Lindley from a single flower received from the nursery Loddiges and Son. The species was named loddigesii for the nursery who presented the flower. It is at this point where all the confusion surrounding this Genus started and which has pretty much continued to this day. The confusion arises because of the flowers of Cycnoches. These orchids are unusual in that they produce male, female or hermaphroditic flowers. They can be on the same or separate inflorescences. They can produce all of one kind of flower or the other or they can produce all of them on the same spike. To make matters worse, the flowers of some species are extremely dimorphic. By this, I mean that the female flower looks nothing like the male flower and vice versa. This fact has caused considerable confusion in the Genus. Anyone wishing to delve further into this can read a fascinating article on line at the following link: http://orchidjudges.org/docs/txt001.html

Cycnoches chlorochilon

Cycnoches are divided into two sections, Eucycnoches that contains most of those species that many are familiar with, chlorochilon, loddigesii, lehmanii, ventricosum, warscewiczii to name some. These are the large flowered species with quite a bit of similarity between male and female flowers. There has been quite a bit of confusion in the ventricosum complex, which includes the aforementioned species chlorochilon and warscewiczii. In simple terms, with male flowers, (these are the ones almost always seen) ventricosum almost always has petals reflexed backwards, Chlorochilon has a flower that is longer than broad and warscewiczii has flowers where all segments are approximately equal which creates a more balanced flower. Chlorochilon is the largest with flowers reaching diameters of 6 inches. The other section is Heteranthes, a group that causes much confusion as the male and female flowers are often wildly dissimilar. There are more species in this group by a large number than are found in Eucycnoches.

Some of the species found in this section are maculatum, egertonianum, cooperi, pendadactylon, peruviana, bennettii and, of course, herrenhusanum and barthiorum. The differences in so many of the male flowers in this section are so small that identification by most of us is difficult to impossible. It often comes down to slight color differences, spot size and even number of projections on the lip. Some of these are supposed to have large showy female flowers but are rarely if ever seen. As a small example, bennettii female flowers are described as having sepals and petals green tinted ocher red, lip bluish gray green with pale rose while the column is lemon green and the ovary purple brown. The male flower looks like peruviana only a little bigger and more ivory green.

Cycnoches cooperi dark form

Culture is relatively simple with these orchids as long as a few simple things are remembered. Being lowland orchids, they like warm to intermediate temperatures. When in active growth, they require copious water and a good heavy fertilizer regimen. After flowering and leaf drop, they require a dry rest. They can be grown in a variety of media as long as it retains moisture but is porous and drains well. They like bright light and airy conditions. This is how I prefer to take care of the above. From leaf drop till commencement of new growth they are kept dry. You can either put the pot out of the way or knock them out of the pot and remove the old roots. They will be of no use once new growth commences as the new growth lives off the old growth till roots start. It doesn’t hurt to mist them early in the day periodically if you see a little shriveling in the newest pseudobulb. Generally, this is not needed. Once new growth starts, water is withheld other than an occasional misting until such time as the new growth is starting to show leaves and roots are penetrating the medium. At this time, watering can be increased and a fertilizer schedule started. More Cycnoches are probably lost at this time than any other. Start watering early and rot will almost always occur. They are also susceptible to rot during their winter rest. During the growing season go full strength on the recommendations of the fertilizer you use, as they are heavy feeders. They mature the pseudobulb fairly quickly, once started they are rapid growers. Whether you use a bloom booster fertilizer is up to you. I don’t but if you do, I would start as the growth reaches maturity but before the spikes appear. The spikes will start to show from mid summer on unless you have some that break early. Some of mine are spiking now (June). The spikes almost always come while the plant is in leaf but on some species the foliage will be browning or dropped by the time the flowers open. Once the growth has matured, cut back on water with just enough to keep the medium damp and the pseudobulb plump. Use your own judgment, it depends on how and where you grow them. After flowering, dry the plant down for the start of the next cycle.

Cycnoches cooperi, light form

Cycnoches pentadactylon

Several other items in regard to culture need to be stated. It has been mentioned by some growers that to produce female flowers, the plants need to be grown in high light. Several have been able to produce female flowers by this method. It would be nice to know if others could duplicate this with more and different species. Those who grow Cycnoches species realize that the vast majority of all plants are obtained as imported plants. This is because of the dearth of female flowers being produced. Since many species grow below the Equator, their seasons are reversed from ours and imported plants will follow this cycle for a while but eventually swing over to our Northern Hemisphere growing seasons. It may take several cycles to do this. Just follow their cycle till they get in rhythm. You cannot push a Cycnoches into growth; all you will do is rot it. The major pest of Cycnoches is Spider Mites. Look for speckled whitish green areas on the leaves with minute webbing. The population explodes in hot weather. The life cycle drops to around 7 days as opposed to 21-22 in cooler weather. Syringing the foliage with water helps but Pentac is the best miticide I have found. For those who summer their orchids outside, be careful on the initial placement and gradually move to brighter light if they are already actively growing. Thin leaves burn quickly.

In closing, Cycnoches are a fascinating genus of unusual orchids combining attractive, long lasting flowers with a heady fragrance on many species. They reward the grower with large showy flowers or masses of smaller ones on a yearly basis. It is just a shame that female flowers aren’t more readily produced to lessen the demand on collected plants. More female flowers would also enable more info to be found on the Web as to the morphological differences between male and female flowers of the same species. It is almost non-existent now, especially in the Heteranthes section. Female flowers would also enable primary hybrids and cross generic hybrids to be made much more readily. My hope is some are already working on this problem. More species are being discovered; one of the latest is one called schmidtianum. Who knows when the next herrenhusanum or barthiorum will appear. I hope to be around to see it.

Cycnoches peruvianum