well, it does look like the Coilostylis parkinsoniana, I didn't really get a good look at the picture, it was white and I was standing on a busy street. She did tell me that the flower was very big. The long hanging thick, tube like leaves do seem like the parkinsoniana. In reading about it, it grows in a much cooler area, over 1000 meters - around 3000 ft - in altitude. I think our sun would definitely be too much. Most of the pics I googled showed it on bark or just hanging free like a Vanda. Maybe my flat wicker basket is a good match for it.
It also lists Veracruz as one of the areas where it is native. This is the reason I always feel guilty about buying from her, I'm pretty sure she goes home to Veracruz and brings back plants found in the jungle. I tell myself that the plant is already here and will never be home again but I know it is wrong. Sometimes it is ok to get plants from the wild, a friend here makes regular pilgrimages to areas where they are building or widening roads and she saves the orchids, bromeliads and other native plants that are on the trees they cut down or in the path of the bulldozers. Let's pretend that is what this lady is doing
Elaine, no problem I will certainly take you to see her if you come this way. There are also orchid sellers in the countryside that are certified by the state. They have to maintain their 'mother' plant at the location but they are allowed to sell anything they propagate. They also include a certificate of legality when you purchase. However, that is for orchids that are native to Yucatán, for orchids native to other areas there isn't anything similar that I am aware of. We are pretty close to Veracruz, it is the state directly across the lower part of the Gulf of Mexico from us. It is a state with mountains though, we have none, and it has year round rain where we have a rainy and a dry season. Thus, they have more wet tropical plants such as vanilla which originated there. If I can keep this orchid alive through the rest of our dry season it may have a chance to adapt during the rainy season.
I have been putting used pieces of rock wool around the roots of the orchids I have in the wicker basket, just to keep more moisture and keep them from drying out completely. Any other suggestions? I sometimes miss a day in spraying them with water, I need to be more religious about it.
