Bloom Event - Coelia bella

After returning from a very pleasant few days away earlier in November, I found the flowers I had been watching develop on Coelia bella open at last. I have been growing this plant for a while and it has finally reached flowering size. This species seems to need to reach quite a size before blooming, but now it has got there I'm hoping it will bloom regularly.  It originates from Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala and can be found at a range of elevations, giving the plant good temperature tolerance. I grow it at warm temperatures (such as might be appropriate for Phalaenopsis species and hybrids) with good results. Regardless of temperature, the plant takes a brief rest between maturing its pseudobulbs and starting new ones, at which time it blooms.

I give plenty of water to this plant, treating it much like a Coelogyne species (a genus to which it is related). It does not like to dry out at all, even while it is resting and seems to enjoy quite wet conditions, at least under warm temperatures. It is possible it would appreciate being kept a little drier under cooler conditions, but I haven’t tried that.

It was interesting watching the flower spike develop because it starts out rather like a new growth emerging from a mature pseudobulb, but quickly becomes much fatter though I can’t call its development fast, with buds only becoming visible right before they are about to open and remaining partially hidden between their protecting bracts even after opening.

The flowers are produced on short racemes with long bracts, the flowers remaining tubular and opening fully only at the tip. There are around 5 flowers per raceme, and are quite large but due to their habit of not opening fully they are much longer than they are wide, and they barely escape from their surrounding bracts.  They have a heavy almost crystalline texture and are mostly white with pinkish purple tips and a narrow yellow pointed lip. This species is reported as being marzipan scented, but I can only assume that whoever wrote that has never smelled marzipan. The scent is very pleasant indeed but is (at least to me) more reminiscent of species such as Dendrochilum glumaceum, but slightly spicier.  The flowers lasted just over a week though they may last longer under cooler conditions.

The flowering racemes sit well below the foliage and cluster among the pseudobulbs. The leaves are long and strap-like with each pseudobulb bearing around five leaves, emerging erect from the apex of the pseudobulbs and arching over gracefully. The plant itself puts me in mind of one of the narrower leafed Aspidistra species. Pseudobulbs are rounded and ovoid, pale green. On my plant they are around 5cm or more in diameter, but may increase further as the plant grows.

I suppose the next challenge will be to see whether potting on upsets it or not. I've no reason to assume it would, but you never know. It really needed doing as soon as I got it, but I still haven't got round to it. The plant doesn't seem to mind, though.

Coelia bella is one of those unfortunate plants that has had taxonomic tennis played with it quite a lot in the past, Being part of genera such as Bothrochilus and Bifrenaria before finding a home as Coelia. Wherever it finds itself in the future, I think this is a lovely species and well worth a place in any mixed collection.