Ancile Gloudon ORCHID HUNTER Extraordinaire
An extraordinary beginning
Like most prodigies, Ancile Gloudon started orchid collecting at age 12 in his native home of Trinidad. Arriving on The Rock in 1952 to attend university, he spent his first Christmas holiday collecting his beloved Orchidaceae at Bellevue in Guava Ridge, St Andrew. He regales us with the tale of the burgeoning anticipation that he felt as he contemplated the summer holiday return to his home shores in or around 1953. Gloudon recalls, “I told my mother to care for my orchids until I returned in the summer…”. However, when he called to check in with his chief orchid custodian,“she told me that of the 60 different species, around 90 plants were dead. That was the end of my orchid life for some time.”
The orchid hunt
Having married the love of his life in human form, the only absence in Gloudon’s life was his beloved orchids. Not long after, he was invited by Dr Aubrey Jacobs to go orchid collecting in Old Pero, St Thomas. “I went with him and there were some guango trees… with four different types of orchids.” By October
1961 Gloudon was a full-fledged member of the Jamaica Orchid Society and was elected to the post of secretary which he held for 13 years.
As secretary of the Orchid Society, it was Gloudon’s duty to order plants from abroad. He recalls that one year in particular, he imported Phalaenopsises as gifts and was told by a member that “we can’t grow them in Jamaica”. However, true to form, dispelling the incorrect notion, the imported Phalaenopsises flowered right here at home where they continue to thrive today. Of course, the blooming Phals were welcomed with applause by the society. Unsurprisingly, at the end of his term as secretary, Gloudon became Jamaica Orchid Society president for a tenure of seven years.
A local appreciation
Gloudon’s hallmark is his appreciation of and ability to identify plants in the western hemisphere. His local expertise is recognised by the American Orchid Society. As a collector, grower and distributor, he developed an affinity for local orchids. The evolution of his love affair with Jamaican orchids was the source of many botanical firsts for the nation.
“I had imported quite a few plants from India and Thailand... I was the first exporter of orchids from Jamaica to the USA…. 10 dozen stems a week…”he shares. Ultimately, his vast client base comprised England, India,
Japan and Australia.
Sharing his invaluable knowledge with the world, along with Cicely Tobish, he authored Volumes I & II of Orchids of Jamaica. He deems that the “work was essential…we have found seven or eight species that we didn’t know were here”. As knowledge about the local species evolves, Gloudon feels that “there’s still more work to be done”. To date, Orchids of Jamaica Volume II is the most current book on Jamaican orchids worldwide.
Orchid hunting for beginners
With a new-found appreciation for the good outdoors, orchid hunting could definitely become “a thing” in 2021. Gloudon explains, “Orchids grow from sea level up in the Blue Mountains… I have been all over the place collecting. Above 3,000 ft you can get mainly smaller types.
The larger ones tend to be in the 1,500-3,000 ft range above sea level…you will find that orchids in Jamaica grow all over the place... swampy areas and sometimes in very dry, hot places.”
Ancile Gloudon’s tips on orchid hunting & collecting:
1. If you see a plant, look carefully at where it’s situated.
In deep shade or in plenty light that will tell you where you put it in your greenhouse…your greenhouse should have full sunlight or deep shade…the orchids grow from full to deep shade...you must try to copy the environment ….and put them in a similar place at home where you found it.
2. It may sound strange but do not be afraid to talk to your plants. I’m serious. Talk to them nicely and if they’re still not doing well, you threaten them…i threatened my mango tree …’next year if you don’t bear I will cut you down’. It works!
3. Don’t over-water your orchids since most of us tend to kill our orchids from over-watering.
4. Once you start growing orchids some will die as is natural with life. Don’t be too concerned. Try your best.
5. When growing in shade look at the colour of your leaves… to ensure that they’re the right pigment for the species – not too dark and not too light. A plant will not bloom unless it receives the right lighting.
NB: Gloudon is also of the view that plants have a positive sensory response to music similar to dairy cows for whom some farmers play music to milk the maximum. Please try this and let me know.
If you’re inclined to orchid hunt, these are a few of Gloudon’s favourite areas:
1. Discovery Bay, St Ann on the coast where one should be able to find at least three or four different types of orchids;
2. In both Port Antonio, Portland and Oracabessa, St Mary you can see at least two different types of orchids growing on trees;
3. On the south coast approaching Morant Bay, St Thomas; and
4. In Moneague, St Ann on some of the old stone walls there are orchids growing wild.
The thrill & appreciation of “what we have”
In today’s world, very few things in life give a positive thrill. Gloudon describes the thrill that orchids bring: “For me especially if I find something new, the thrill is unbelievable. We look for different forms of Broughtonia sanguinea. One day I went collecting with a friend of mine in Jackson Bay. We were both not in the mood for collecting because we had both been out to party the night before. We were walking on the beach and I had to bend my eye…i saw a red and yellow… nobody had ever found a plant like that before and I cut it into three pieces…the thrill of finding something new.”
Gloudon explains that in Jamaica we have some of the most beautiful orchids. As necessary knowledge for the Jamaican collector, he says that “some of the orchids in Jamaica are known worldwide because of what they’re willing to offer and are parents to new species being made”. Amongst those that are endemic to The Rock and internationally renowned are the Broughtonia sanguinea and the Tolumnia triquetra.
Within the pandemic paradigm, the positive thrill of the good outdoors along with all of its mystery and beauty to behold should be embraced by all of us who still have the blessing of life to enjoy. Also, now more than ever, on our little rock, how can we not appreciate and learn more about the things that are free to be explored?