Pamianthe peruviana, the stunning bulb from Peru, is in bloom. These incredible bulbs grow as epiphytes on tree branches, and I grow mine like orchids in indirect light. The flower tube is about 10" (25cm) long, and the flowers are heavily scented. I used to have many bulbs of Pamainthe peruviana, but suffered a catastrophe that killed most of them and all of my seedlings. I still have four bulbs, and the most mature is in bloom now. In the past my mature bulbs have supported a pair of the enormous fragrant flowers, but this year there are four. Something strange has happened, though. The anthers have split, but they look dried up and there is no pollen. This has never happened before, as you can see in the other photograph from a previous year where the pollen is obvious. The temperatures at night have been colder than usual, and we have recently had rain, so maybe this is because of environmental factors.
Unless I can find someone with a blooming bulb who will send pollen, I doubt there will be seeds from this year. I have moved it from the greenhouse to my kitchen in the hope that the warmer temperatures will induce the remaining anthers to produce viable pollen, but so far things look grim. I will post a question on the bulb forum of the Pacific Bulb Society (www.pacificbulbsociety.org) to see if anyone has any ideas about this. I should mention that PBS is a great resource for information about bulbs.
www.telosrarebulbs.com
