Oncidium ampliatum (Chelyorchis ampliata) is sometimes called the broad pseudobulb Oncidium.

It grows in dry deciduous to semideciduous forests in Central America, Trinidad, Colombia, and Venezuela. It was discovered about 1831.      

The round, flattened, ridged pseudobulbs look like turtles, so it is sometimes called the “turtle orchid.”  It grows epiphytically on trees at low elevations, from sea level to 600 m. It blooms from fall through spring with a long, up to 4 feet, panicle with many to a few flowers as the new growth matures.

We obtained this particular plant in June of 1970. Dr. Charles Pokorny of Halstead, one of the charter members of the Kansas Orchid Society, had thrown it away and I ‘rescued’ it from his trash bin.

            Our plant has generally not bloomed every year but has produced from less than 20 to about 80 flowers. For us the plant has bloomed in March, April, and May with the spike lasting nearly two months.