Encyclia tampensis (Florida Butterfly Orchid)

[Bud]

Native to Florida: This is an orchid that can be seen in the wilds especially down south with pseudobulbs typically an inch or less in diameter supporting one (sometimes two) slender, grass-like leaves six to twelve inches long. Roots are slender and white when dry, and can run several inches up and down the branch where the plant grows. The spike emerges from within the leaf axil, to spring forth a raceme or panicle of attractive flowers, typically fragrant around noon that smells like licorice candy. The flowers are 1 to 1.5 inches, with green sepals and petals with varying specks of red, a tri-lobed lip with two lobes on either side of the column and the third lobe fan-shaped in purple hue.
Habitat: Hammocks and swamps from central Florida all the way down to the south, most found on live oak trees, but can grow on cypress, pop-ash, pond-apple, palm and pine trees.
Flowering season: May through August (peaking in June)

I got this mounted on a tree fern stick and decided not to mess with it since the roots are deeply imbedded and didn’t want to shock this plant. This is the second bloom after a year of sulking. I placed it near the humidifier last winter and luckily it decided to bloom for me and with two spikes at that! I am very happy how this plant is getting larger inspite of it being mounted ( most of my mounted plants are slow in becoming specimens)