I have to ask since it's bugging me so please be patient with my story so you understand and help if you can.

I fell in love with the undulations and vibrant colors of the Schoms and my environment is perfect for them for 10 months of a year outdoors. I just had to have one, especially the tibicens with the gold margin in the lip.

Now I'm assuming the 'real' tibicens has the gold lip but I've seen too many portraying themselves as 'tibi' without a gold lip to be sure any more and that's part of my issue. From my research, tibi grows in basically an arid region in almost full sun with a hollow PBs that typically attracts ants. Growth habit is a single set of paired, ovate leaves atop green to yellowish dessicated PBs. Recently I asked an eBay seller if his non-gold lipped tibi growing elongated, Laelia type leaves was truly a tibi and he basically yelled at me and said unless I was PhD in taxonomy to shut up.

What adds to this is now I have two purported tibis. The first has the paired, ovate leaves atop four 7-10 inch high, 1.5 inch diameter PBs. This new one has about 12 PBs with the same leaf formations but they're only 1/2 inch in diameter and 5 inches high at best. I know there may be age difference and the first an older version that had the new growth removed but if the second is an example, the second is older than dirt. Are they both the same species and the first is a 4 PB backgrowth cutting? While growth tells me a lot, I know I need to wait for blooms but I figured some of you experts could give me some guidance.

Mine has long pseudobulbs like the first one you mention and get up to four leaves atop a pb...I'll get a pic uploaded when I finish the roll, it's a monster now. I think this is a very diverse species, as I've seen them with very variable lips like you describe and different compactness to the plant. It is a much more common species than the others of the genus, so I think the odds are in your favor of them both being tibicinis. I would imagine water and light variables could shape the look of the plant, especially if they are divisions, so no way to be certain until it blooms unfortunately. Luckily I've yet to see a Schom that wasn't really neat.

Jon

I am not exactly sure if there is just ONE color for the lip, possibly there are alot more than expected. Personally, I have had tons of these, and most varied in color on the sepals and petals, not the lip.....

I only have one last Myr. tibicinis in my collection, a specimen of Myr. tibicinis, a dwarf form in which I offered. Everything is the same as my other Myr. tibicinis, except for the funny dwarf habit of the plant, not dwarfed or stunted. The spikes are still 6-8 feet tall, and are amazing..... they can be variable in size and shape, but always have the little hole at the base pointing in the direction of the rhizome's new growth.....

Perhaps Myr. tibicinis is just a compilation of similar looking plants, but really seperate species or varieties, sort of like Epidendrum nocturnum and Epidendrum difforme.....

ttyl,
-PM