Lepanthes ingridiana

Lepanthes ingridiana is a rather rare species from Ecuador whose flowers are some of the largest in the genus.  The plant itself is also quite large, for the genus, 15-20 cm tall.  It bears a single 5 cm leaf on an upright stem with the typical bracts of a Lepanthes.  The plants are native to Ecuador and Columbia and come from higher elevations.  They require cool temperatures in cultivation.

The bright yellow spidery flowers are huge for the genus.  Fully extended they would be around 7 cm long, but they tend to hang in a kind of half-circle under the leaves.  The flowers appear successively with a new bud forming as the previous flower opens.  The plant is almost always in flower, therefore, with each new growth adding its succession of flowers to those already blooming.