Saturday, October 23, 2010

Scaphosepalum anchoriferum

Scaphosepalum is a genus related to Masdevallia and Pleurothallis and belonging, therefore to the Pleurothallid alliance. All the species in the genus, a total of about 15, have very unusual flowers. This species comes from Costa Rica and Panama. It is around 8 cm tall, with pendant spikes about 5 cm long that bloom repeatedly, one flower at a time. The flowers themselves are 1 cm long and very intricate and highly colored. The plant likes cool and moist conditions and because it spikes are pendant needs to be mounted or grown in a small mesh basket.


2 comments:

  1. Fascinating. The plant foliage looks and it's inflorescence behaves much like Dracula in this picture.
    Very nice growing!

    Polarizeme

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    Replies
    1. It is, of course, related to Dracula, but the flowers are very different and immediately recognizable as Scaphosepalums by the little "horns."

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