Weirdest Orchids?

[Daenerys]

I've been browsing through orchidspecies.com, and I found some orchids that... only a horticulturist could love. As well as some of the weirdest looking orchid flowers I've ever come accross.









What are some of the oddest looking orchids you've ever come across?

[jrodpad]

That second photo is amazing. It looks like it came directly from Avatar. How awesome.

Someone posted a pic a while back of a peloric stanhopea: http://www.orchidboard.com/community...a-peloric.html

It's right up there among the oddest that I've ever seen. Amazing, but odd.

They're all really great pics. Thanks for posting. I can't wait to see what others come up with.

- J

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I've grown a Podochilus intricuatus before. The flowers are probably around 1 mm in diameter.

It is white, with a purple anther cap. beautiful little thing. Just can't see the flowers unless you've got some excellent eyesight. Almost missed it. Blooms don't last long either.

Great for foliage. Bad for flowers, no matter how showy the tiny flowers are.

Acostaea costaricensis and Acostaea trilobata are both not only tiny flowered (with Acostaea costaricensis being larger in flower than Acostaea trilobata), but they have interesting helmet shaped flowers. The lip is also something that's very unusual, but I just can't see it that well even with a jeweler's loupe.

I've even grown some Scaphosepalum spp. that are really cool! It's like growing mini Audrey II's from Little Shop of Horrors. My favorites are Scaphosepalum fimbriatum, Scaphosepalum rapax, and Scaphosepalum verrucosum.

Of course, I also love the beautiful Porroglossums. It's so fun playing with the hinged lip that shuts when you touch them.

I've also had Jacquiniella leucomelana - talk about flowers only a horticulturist would love. Tiny flowers (1 - 2 mm long), tubular, and light green. Nothing showy about the tiny flowers at all, but I love them as curiosities.

I also grow a Trichoceros species. I think it may be Trichoceros muralis, idk. The flowers are about 1" in diameter, but the only part of the flowers that would be considered showy are the sepals. The petals, column, and lip are all arranged like a female bee or fly. Cool stuff, these Trichoceros.

[Daenerys]

King of Orchid Growing indeed--those are some fascinating flowers!

I actually remember noting the acostaea's before as looking quite lovely--I didn't realize that they were quite that small.

for the pictures:

Podochilus intricatus




Acostaea costaricensis


Acostaea trilobata


Scaphosepalum fimbriatum


Scaphosepalum rapax


Scaphosepalum verrucosum.


Porroglossums


Jacquiniella leucomelana


Trichoceros muralis


note: I found all these pictures through google search, and the image urls should still lead back to the original sites.

[FairyInTheFlowers]

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

Of course, I also love the beautiful Porroglossums. It's so fun playing with the hinged lip that shuts when you touch them.

I SOO want some!!!

[camille1585]

I think one of the weirdest orchids I've come across on internet is the Warty Hammer Orchid, Drakaea livida. It's beyond weird, as is the name of it !
Drakaea livida

[Daenerys]

Originally Posted by camille1585

I think one of the weirdest orchids I've come across on internet is the Warty Hammer Orchid, Drakaea livida. It's beyond weird, as is the name of it !
Drakaea livida

woah... that's like the transformer of orchids!

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I had some trouble remembering the correct spelling of the genus, but I finally found out what it was.

Here're a couple of cool little South African terrestrial orchids not a lot of people have heard of:

1. Huttonaea grandiflora

2. Huttonaea pulchra

Disperis spp. are strange looking too, as are Bartholina burmanniana and Bartholina etheliae.