Garden Photography from the American Orchid Society

While on vacation down in Florida the week before last I visited the American Orchid Society visitor center and botanical garden in Delray, FL. Their outdoor gardens are filled with a large selection of plant material: trees, shrubs, herbaceous plants, palms of all sizes, and of course orchids everywhere. These photographs are of plants other than members of the orchid family that I discovered in the gardens that day. Enjoy.

Barleria oenotheroides is commonly called yellow barleria and belongs to the family Acanthaceae.

Solandra longiflora is commonly called golden chalice or chalice vine and belongs in the nightshade family, Solanaceae. This species is native to the West Indies, has more of a climbing habit, and grows in USDA Zones 10-12.
Stropanthus gratus is commonly called climbing oleander or India rubber vine and belongs to the dogbane family, Apocynaceae. Native to tropical western Africa, this semi-climbing shrub does well in Zones 10-12.
This is the flower cluster of a certain Begonia that I was not able to identify to species or cultivar. It was a shrub form with these fabulous pink clusters of blossoms. I was able to tell it was a begonia because of the distinctive leaf shape and imperfect flowers, which are either male or female.
This flower spike emerged out of the center of a plant with long, narrow, leathery leaves with spines along their edges. Even though I was not about to identify it to species and/or cultivar, I am pretty certain that given the fluting habit of the plant and the flower spike it is a member of the bromeliad family, Bromeliaceae.
Bambusa vulgaris 'Vittata' is commonly called golden or yellow-stemmed bamboo and belongs to the grass family, Poaceae.
This is a kind of Heliconia, a group of about 100 species of tropical evergreen perennials belonging to the banana family, Musaceae. Even though identifying Heliconia to species can be tricky, the small flowers backed by those brightly colored bracts can allow you to identify to genus with some ease.
You might be able to tell by the foliage and placement of the flower spike that this Portea alatisepala is another member of the Bromeliaceae family. Native to Brazil each of those purple buds will open to a narrow tubular flower.
Lastly there were a lot of tropical ginger in bloom, this one a red ginger, Alpinia purpurata. The ginger family is botanically referred to as the Zingiberaceae. Native to Melanasia, the upright red flower inflorescence stood just about 6' or 7' feet tall and over time might grow to 10' or 12' tall.

(please note that all the above photography is the property of Alex Feleppa and is not to be copied or duplicated without written consent, thank you. -AEF)