Barkeria melanocaulon

 This species used to be called Barkeria Halbingeri, a name given in honor of Frederico Halbinger of Mexico City.  Mr. Halbinger is an avid orchidist who studied intensely the Barkerias and Laelias of Mexico.  It was later found that there was a predated description and mix up between the plants from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and Mitla, Oaxaca, thus the renaming of the species from Mitla as melanocaulon and the species from Tehuantepec as whartoniana.  Barkeria melanocaulon tends to grow in open fields, in grass clumps like its cousin, Bark. Lindleyana var. vanneriana.  It is easily distinguished though by its' few leaved, short growth habit and very localized distribution around Mitla.  Within a few miles north of Mitla, and very close to the range of melanocaulon, exists a large colony on a single rock outcrop of the Barkeria Lindleyana var. Lindleyana.  This colony contains the largest flower shape and color variation I have ever seen in this species.  The plants almost seem to be an intergrade between the melanocaulon, Lindleyana Lindleyana and Lindleyana vanneriana.

Barkeria melanocaulon was very easy to grow in Atlixco, Puebla, resulting in the specimen photographed on the right, which won a Mexican Orchid Society award, which is photographed at the left.  The picture on the left is more of the true color of this species.  It is an intermediate grower and does not tolerate too much heat and high humidity.  This contrasts with its' cousin whartoniana which comes from near sea level. 
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