Monday, September 13, 2010

Zootrophion endresianum

This interesting orchid species was purchased as Zootrophion gracilentum, but I am pretty certain that is not that species. The description of Zootrophion endresianum fits this species better.

The plant is about 20 cm tall and freely produces its strange and interesting flowers during the summer. The flowers are about 3 cm in size and only open little "windows" in the sides of the flower, through which the pollinating insect must crawl.

The name Zootrophion refers to the cage-like shape of the flowers with their little "windows." The name endresianum refers to a German orchid collector of the 19th century.  The species is from Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador and Colombia and tolerates a wide range of temperatures. It is considered by some to be synonymous with Zootrophion hypodiscus.




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4 comments:

  1. libbyquilterSeptember 15, 2010 at 3:21 PM

    i'm surprised to see that these blossoms aren't on long stems as so many others are . . . i just assumed and am happy that i came to see the blog and get a more in depth look at these.

    :-)
    libbyQ

    ReplyDelete
  2. RonSeptember 15, 2010 at 9:12 PM

    Thanks for the comment, Libby. I try with each orchid I feature to include pictures of the plant and its growth habit.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hali'a EastburnMarch 30, 2015 at 10:40 PM

    What time of the year do these bloom?

    ReplyDelete
  4. RonMarch 31, 2015 at 7:36 AM

    Mine always blooms in the summer, July or August.

    ReplyDelete

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