Tricocentrum cebolleta
All of the rat tail Oncidiums have been placed, along with the mule ears, in the genus Tricocentrum. The lower left picture was taken flowering, en situ, just northwest of Ciudad Valles and includes Weymans' son Dustin, about a year and half before his near fatal accident. He was ejected from a vehicle in August, 2003, and suffered a traumatic brain injury. Dustin remains, minimally conscious and severly disabled, in McAllen, Texas, as I write these lines in February of 2008. There may still be hope for Dustin in the form of a new surgery being trialed in Cleveland, Ohio, Deep Brain Stimulation. We all keep our fingers crossed that he may soon recover. To give you some idea of the size of the plants and tree, Dustin measured 6 ft. 1 in. when the picture was taken. We have a very large population of cebolleta growing near Aquismon in a citrus grove. The grove is abandoned and the future of the orchids is uncertain. The owner of the grove and his entire family, except for one son, was killed in a car wreck just 4 years ago, about the time of Dustins accident. Tragedy not only strikes people, often, human tragedy spells tragedy for the orchids.