300+ CALYPSO bulbosa SPECIES ORCHID SEED

This 2009 harvest terrestrial orchid seed is produced and distributed by the The Calypso Orchid Company. Please see my feedback and profile for more information! Just click on the "ME" link or the numbers next to my name in a listing.  This is a generous count of seed and is shipped in a tiny, half dram glass vial nestled in a little round metal box. It is almost bullet proof! The custom form is included for International orders including all CITES required info. This seed has shipped all over the world quickly and safely.

 I have been in touch with an in vitro grower who has had success, 100% germination using BM2 medium with coconut water. Sixteen weeks to germination in vitro in the cool and dark is what is working for this orchid. It is only a matter of time and plants will be available! Every month brings more information on the needs and life cycle of this wonderful miniature orchid.

First time ever available to the public in this quality and quantity.  MY seed is legal, ethical, source verified and sustainable.  I hand pollinate protected flowering wild Calypso bulbosa variety occidentalis mother plants on a three year rotation to make high quality, clean, ripe seed available and hope to lessen the pressures of poaching and digging from the wild.  

 I am the world's first commercial ethical verified source of high quality Calypso seed from wild plants.   These seeds are all produced and processed here in my private nursery from wild protected mother plants.  I do not dig or disturb or acquire any plant material from any other source. All my seed is guilt free! Please support your local native plant group and help protect our wild resources.

Calypso is found around the world in the northern forested regions. This is a shade loving (60% to 100%) miniature terrestrial orchid native to the Pacific Northwest from Santa Cruz, California to British Columbia.  Calypso bulbosa was John Muir's favorite flower.  Some people search for years to gaze on this magical orchid.  Beautiful pink,  purple,  glistening white,  burgundy and touches of deep salmon are colors I find in the flower, which brings to my mind a jester or a dragon.  Calypso is sometimes called Fairy Slipper, Venus Slipper, Redwood orchid or Hider of the North. Named after a cave dwelling oceanid nymph, Calypso requires undisturbed forest sanctuary.

I am offering fine seed to hobbyists, researchers and landscapers. You are encouraged to try in vitro research. I hope each and every seed or in vitro protocorm finds the necessary fungal partner for continued colonizing. MY experience is with wild grown plants in nature on private land. Sowing Calypso seed in her native host forests is my highest goal. I have also begun trials using in vitro germination. I am encouraged by the success of others using this method and I have pictures of my homemade glovebox on my blog.

If everything is done the way Calypso wants it done the orchid is prolific and tough requiring only protection from predators and poaching.  Seed grown protected plants are resilient and multiply rapidly. Someday you may be able to pollinate and harvest your own seed for increasing your colony.   My protected plants are often pollinated by insects in the two rest and rotation years when I do not hand pollinate.

The glass vial of seed will need to be stored properly until you are ready to sow the dustlike seed.  Three hundred seed are about the size of a grain of rice. The best place for storage is cool and dry and dark, think of a nice cave.  The seed will arrive plump and fresh, not crushed in an envelope.  

In nature, after sowing in the fall, the seeds will be  cooled through the first winter and germinate at the time when the fungus is most present and active,  slowly developing tiny underground pearls that may in a year and a half to two years,  send up the tiny first leaf about the size of your smallest fingernail.  From here on out I can only estimate since reliable data is not available, yet.  The best available information at this time, suggest 3-5 years from sowing and germination to flowering in nature.  Each season while developing to flowering size the plant will show a larger leaf and bulb.  I now have information that shows seeds continue to germinate well for at least three years after being harvested. Much information is available on the web and you are encouraged to do research.  Be prepared to protect the seeded area from predators. 

Begin your own Calypso journey by going to my profile and follow the link to my blog and do a web search on Calypso Orchid for more information. Be sure to check out my ebay feedback. My profile can be found on any of my listings in the upper right hand corner where it says "meet the seller."

At this time there are no other source verified seed or plants grown from seed or flask cultivated Calypso plants available anywhere on the web, not one! Please don't encourage poaching and digging of this native orchid by supporting unverified vendors.The transplanting of a Calypso bulb is a death sentence for the once happy wild orchid. At this time sowing seed in suitable habitat is nature's proven technique and is the first choice for conservation.

Many people are working hard to unlock the secrets of Calypso for laboratory and mass commercial production. The Calyspo Orchid Company supports any and all research in order to make source verified seed grown ethical  plants available to the public. These will be plants with one to two 4-6 inch long ivory colored roots that have not been broken off!

Cheers! Calypsogrower

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