Restrepia escobariana, Luer 1996, is accepted species by POWO, Kew. The native range of this species is Colombia (Risaralda). It is an epiphyte and grows primarily in the wet tropical biome.

Previous Awards:

There is no AOS awards in OrchidPro for Restrepia escobariana.

Description:

The candidate plant has 4 flowers and 1 bud on 5 inflorescences. The plant is 17-cm wide by 14-cm tall and grown mounted on cork.

Flower Measurements:

NS H - 2.0 cm;                   NS V - 5.0 cm;

Dorsal Sep. W - 0.3 cm;    Dorsal Sep. L - 3.5 cm;

Petal W - 0.1 cm;               Petals L - 1.8 cm;

Lat/Sepal W - 1.5 cm;       Lat/Sepal L - 3.5 cm;

Lip/Pouch W - 0.4 cm;     Lip/Pouch L - 1.0 cm.

Judges' Comments

Al Messina (Accredited Judge, Northeast Judging Center)

Nicely grown Restrepia species initially described by Luer 30 years ago; as good or better than many similar species previously awarded. Easily qualifies for a botanical award but a provisional flower award of 80 points with SITF confirmation would be my selection.

Paul Wetter (Senior Judge, West Palm Beach Judging Center)

Thank you for submitting this very interesting species Restrepia escobariana.

This is a well grown plant with interesting Restrepia flowers, it is a nicely grown plant with some potential in the Masdevallias, Pleurothallidinae group. It has an interesting dot spot pattern that is reminiscent of some other species in this group. I would nominate it for at minimum CBR, as it was not previously awarded the interesting pattern may suggest a CHM although some of the previously awarded species in this group have more pronounced spotting. Very interested in what others with more experience in this group suggest. 

Best Regards

Paul Wetter

Steve Gonzalez-Costa (Accredited Judge, Chicago Judging Center)

Very interesting shape compared to my existing Restrepia references, the fused lateral sepals widen out towards the apical end in a squarish shape.  The name is legit per Kew/POWO but there are no botanical drawings or descriptions – not that I would attempt to match the features.  What if it is a hybrid? There is a reference in SITF to a prior investigation to match a flower/plant to this escobariana identity.  Unfortunately, due to smaller size and other features it was not confirmed, deemed an elegans and the team could not justify an ‘elegans’ award.  This flower that is larger than a smaller than elegans, slightly larger landsbergii but smaller than a huge chameleon flower, but right in between the dimensions towards a landsbergii and for the most part more open than any of these.  Flower colors and patterns are very distinct and clear in color.  They do look like the SITF March 2021 candidate that was nullified but this has a larger flower.  I would suggest giving it a CBR, documenting and photographing well and seeing whether it is a different species, although if found to be existing species, this flower could be reconsidered by the team to compete against what it is determined to be.  In the end the flower/plant would be identified even if an award is not granted.  It would be good in these cases to know where it came from or whom the seller might have been to avoid redundancies. Look for the owner and ask a few questions in good faith.  This Restrepia world is a challenging one – so – I propose a CBR.

Franco Pupulin (Lankester Botanical Garden, Costa Rica; University of Costa Rica)

Dear Sergey:

      I confess you that I feel tremendously uncomfortable with the taxonomy of Restrepia. Most of the characters that are cited in protologues as diagnostic of new species are very subjective, and no one has ever tried to examine phenotypic variation at least in a few individuals from the same populations to begin understanding which kind of natural variation we can expect within the limits of a given species.

      Just to remain at the example you sent. In describing Restrepia escobariana Luer (1996) mentions that it differs from R. elegans by the thickened leaves (foliis crassis), narrow elliptic (anguste ellipticis), and slightly subconduplicate [??? subconduplicate means not-much-conduplicate, so they are slightly-not-much-conduplicate???], with the synsepal sparsely dotted with rose and the lip oblong with a convex epichile.

     Well, in describing R. elegans, Karsten said the the leaf is "1 1/2 inches long, one inch wide [ratio length/width = 3:2], oval, fairly strong, and leathery [aka thickened…]; the sepals (“three outer lacinae”) are striped with rose; the petals and lip (three inner laciniae) are yellow, spotted with red. No mention is given of the lip shape, but in several species I saw of “R. elegans” it is oblong-subpandurate (i.e., slightly constricted just under the base) with the epichile convex.

    This would leave us with a single, critical character, the striping of the sepals. I do not have a “terrific experience” with R. elegans, but I never saw one with the synsepal striped. Instead, it is always dotted, even though in some cases the dots arrange to form longitudinal “lines”.

    Let now have a look at your plant. The leaves are ovate (ratio ca. 3:2), the dorsal sepal striped, the sysnsepal yellow dotted with rose (in “lines”), the oblong lip subpandurate (for what I can see) with a convex apex.

    If I look at the photo of the flower that Luer used to prepare the holotype of his R. escobariana, it really resembles your specimen, but the leaves of your plant are not narrowly elliptic (but ovate). Should I feel myself obliged to give your plant a name, I would say it is R. escobariana.

    But, if Restrepia escobariana is really a different species from R. elegans, well, this is altogether another chapter of the book…

Franco.

Josephine deBeaubien (Associate Judge, Pacific South Judging Center)

The candidate plant appears to be well-grown but is a little small. The flower has good form and color. I especially like the spotted pattern on the sepals and lip. If the plant were larger, I would consider it for a Certificate of Botanical Recognition of educational value previously unrecorded by the AOS. I think it is important to get a CBR on record so that we have something to use when comparing new candidate plants.

I found this plate and thought it would be helpful. The photo at the end of the article is a larger, more floriferous plant.

Bob Winkley (Accredited Judge, Northeast Judging Center)

Thank you for sending along the current candidate. It's a very lovely example of the species.

In reviewing the description and illustration in Carl Luer's Icones Pleurothallidinarum - The Genus Restrepia (Volume XIII) several things jump out at me:

• Our flower is quite well colored and the speckling on the lateral sepals is much more dense and evenly spread out over the entire surface of the segments

• Based on the measurements provided, our flower is significantly larger than the type

• The lateral segments do fold in slightly proximal to the center of the flower, much more than the type

• The slight cupping of the flower appears to be normal

When looking at the entire genus, our candidate is above average in terms of both lateral sepals and overall size.

For me, there is one drawback for this plant and it is in the grooming. Should this plant come to a judging table, all old flower pedicels should be trimmed away and the leaves cleaned of what appears to be calcium deposits. Were those issues addressed, I would have no trouble nominating this plant for a CHM. I might also consider a flower quality award (high HCC/low AM) if the flower count were a bit higher as most Restepias have the ability to be quite floriferous.

All the best - 

Bob W.

Virginia Kristo (Student Judge, Pacific Central Judging Center)

The species is from Colombia and grows in a cool, damp environment.

The plant presented has four very well distributed flowers and one bud on five inflorescences. The arrangement is very nice; none of flowers are crowded and appear evenly distributed across the plant. 

The form is good. The flowers are very colorful with beautiful markings.

I wish I could see this plant in person as it is very well grown.

I would award this plant in the high 70s HCC.

After reading the definitions of botanical awards CBR and CHM I think it should receive a CBR.  If I were at the table with the judges I would ask about what is done with a flower that has never been awarded.  I have never encountered this in my judging experience.

So, in summary I think it should receive a CBR and an HCC.  

Thank you,

Virginia  

Elyse DuBois (Student Judge, Northeast Judging Center)

The candidate plant is a lovely miniature Restrepia endemic to the mountains in Columbia. Our candidate has nice red spotting with a very large lip.  Without a previous award this is an excellent candidate for a CHM for its large flower to plant size and clear markings.

Thank you,

Elyse

Exhibitor - Tyler Albrecht (Accredited Judge, California-Sierra Nevada Judging Center, CA)

Virtual Award Description

Four large flowers and one bud on five single inflorescences, on a 17.0-cm wide by 14.0-cm tall plant, mounted on a cork slab partially covered in moss; sheathed ramicals, leaves ovate 5.4 cm long, prominent midline vertical crease, inflorescence emerges at base of leaf; dorsal sepal linear, narrowly ovate below the middle, translucent white, striped maroon, apex clavate-thickened, 3.5-cm long, 0.3-cm wide above the base; lateral sepals obcordate, fused, yellow, thickly spotted linearly maroon 1/3 proximally, smaller spotted linearly to apex, margins smooth; petals narrowly linear, maroon, apex slightly calavate-thickened; lip elongate, yellow, densely spotted maroon; column elongate, linear, white, central gray stripe; substance firm; texture matte; awarded as Restrepia escobariana, botanical award recognition as a new species pending SITF verification. 

Grower's Advice

My growing notes are pretty basic. It is growing along side my Lepanthes, Masdevallia and Phrag besseae on the western side of the greenhouse. This section is more or less protected by a mount wall that blocks good lighting till noon and then is blocked by landscaping around 3 PM. At the moment, there is no shadecloth on the greenhouse but will have 50% in April through Mid October.

This particular plant is mounted on cork with a significant amount of moss. Some Restrepia thrive with more moisture than others. Restrepia escobariana seems to be a moisture loving species. There is a division potted in a 2.5” plastic pot with bark and it grows at half the speed of the mounted plant. I repot all Restrepia every other year and remount as the moss or the mount substrate either starts to breakdown or mold.

In general, these are slow growing but once established plants can add roughly 30-50 more leaves every year. I water as the mount nears dryness and fertilize with 20-20-20 at 250ppm. My source water has no chlorine and a TDS of 5. Restrepia prefer very soft water but can handle much harder water, just pull back on the Ca and Mg in the fertilizer mix.

Winter seems to be the best blooming time for the genus but there is usually several blooming all year out of the 50-60 plants I have.