Effusiella amparoana

Once classified as Pleurothallis amparoana, this is a charming species by any name and one of my favorite orchids.  It blooms profusely in autumn but continues to produce occasional flower spikes throughout the year.  I missed the opportunity to take pictures this past autumn but did take a few recently when it had several new flower spikes and have included an older photo, the last, that shows the plant in full flower.  The species from Costa Rica and the plant is 12cm tall with 1 cm flowers.  It seems to be very temperature tolerant and easy to grow.

Effusiella amparoana

This charming species, one of my favorite orchids, was formerly classified as Pleurothallis amparoana.  By any name its flowers are some of the most curious in the orchid family, looking like little hairy toilet bowls.  I've previously posted pictures and a description of this species, but since it is blooming once again and has more flowers than ever, I thought I'd post it again.

The previous post can be found here: http://orchidsinbloom-ron.blogspot.com/2010/07/effusiella-amparoana.html

Effusiella amparoana

One of my favorite orchids has recently come into bloom. Effusiella amparoana belongs to a group of Central and South American orchids known as Pleurothallids. This miniature plant is about six inches tall with narrow upright leaves and six inch nodding spikes of flowers. The flowers, up to 15 per flower spike, are the interesting part of the plant. Each flower is about 3/8-1/2 inch in size and looks like a translucent hairy green toilet bowl with the lid up. The bowl-shaped, joined lower sepals and the upper sepal are lined with white hairs that are revealed when the flower opens. The plant has also been classified as Specklinia amparoana and Pleurothallis amparoana, is native to Costa Rica and Panama and is named after a Costa Rican orchidist, Dona Amparo de Celedon.