Stelis purpurascens

Stelis purpurascens is a large and robust plant from Mexico, Central and South America.  The plant itself is about 25 cm tall and the flower spikes which come from the joint of leaf and stem add another 20 cm to the height of the plant.  It is really too large for my space and I am going to have to trade or sell it.

The individual flowers are slightly less than 1 cm in size, but their lack of size is made up for by the number of flowers the plant produces, each spike having as many as 75 flowers.  Interestingly, the flowers open and close in the course of day, opening when the lights go on, closing later and then opening again in the afternoon.