Epidendrum vesicatum
 

This is a really neat plant! This Brasilian Epidendrum species has an inverted growing habit. The creamy flowers face the floor and remain protected by the leaves.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2716/...aabc20da_t.jpg http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4072/...4a8c9140_t.jpg http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4017/...5d7a8af7_t.jpg

That is such a cool plant and like always good growing!

Very cool!! Any idea why it has adapted such a strange growing habit? Is it from an area where things could easily hurt the blooms, thus necessitating a protective spiking habit?

That's a really interesting species, Mauro. I too am interested to learn more about why it grows the way it does, if you wouldn't mind sharing some information about its habitat, please.

Steve

Really neat looking plant.

Kim

Really cool!

Wow! I have to find one of those. It's awesome!

The question is interesting, but I really don't know the reason why it is a hanging orchid. Its habitat is the humid forest of Serra do Mar, a mountain chain that faces the Atlantic Ocean and is the home of countless other 'upright' orchids (L. purpurata, tenebrosa, lobata, Cattleya intermedia, acklandiae, guttata just to mention a few of the most known ones). This Epidendrum likes shaded places where other orchids also thrive, so the environment is not a menace to the flowers... I'm really clueless as to why it is pendant! But, it seems to take advantage of this characteristic because it was once spread from the State of Pernambuco down to the State of Rio Grande do Sul (more than 3.000 Km from one point to the other).:)

That has to be the coolest orchid I've seen. Way to grow Mauro

Maybe it has to do with what pollinates it. Is there any info on that? It is a very interesting question. :hmm

Karen