Epidendrum parkinsonianum Hook.

[Rosim_in_BR]

Growing orchids can be something! You never stop finding new colors, new shapes, new perfumes... This pendent Epidendrum is native to Central America up to Mexico. It is not easily found here in Brazil and years ago I got two plants from a nursery that had imported some. They were very small seedlings (I remember that they asked US$ 30.00 each plant!). Expensive for a tiny seedling, but I had to have it, so I bought two. The plants grew well and became adult. I always wait for these intriguing flowers, but sometimes the cold waves blast the buds because they develop exactly during the winter. Last year I lost all of them.
The flower has 4.4” in diameter, but the ovary is fascinating; it is thick and with its 5.5” is larger than the flower itself, folds at the base to make a right angle with the pendent leaf so that the flower can be correctly positioned to the pollinator, probably a nocturnal moth because the flowers are wonderfully perfumed at night! Hope you like it!