Bunga Orkid

Friday, April 6, 2012

Angraecum urschianum

Angraecum urschianum is a micro-miniature species in a genus that includes some massive plants and flowers. It is also in the same genus as the plant whose flowers when seen by Darwin were the basis for his prediction, later proved true, that a moth would be found with a twelve inch tongue (the flowers have nectaries that are a foot long). This plant is a bit less than 3 cm across and the flowers are 2.5 cm with a 10 cm spur or nectary. It is hard to realize from the photos how tiny this plant is, but an American quarter would easily cover the whole plant. I have not detected any fragrance but have not checked the plant at night and suspect that it is fragrant then. The plant is from Madagascar.

First a couple of pictures of the flower bud with the spur still coiled:

Then some of the opened flower with the spur uncoiled:

Monday, April 2, 2012

Mount Baker Orchid Society Show 2012

Saturday, March 10th was out annual orchid show at the Skagit Valley Garden Center in Mount Vernon, Washington. We are a small society and our show is also quite small, with only six exhibitors and three or four vendors. The quality and diversity of orchids in the show, however, made up for the its smallness. I've been to many orchid shows, and for its size this is one of the best, though perhaps I am a bit prejudiced.

I put in the same showcase as last year, but with a new background for the orchids, a cliff and waterfall. I had wanted to put in a real waterfall, but my engineering skills were not up to the task, so I used fake water, though it looked real enough that several people asked if I had to change the water often. My display won several ribbons and a trophy for the best species. Had a fun and relaxing time putting in the exhibit.

My Exhibit

(some of these pictures were taken after the show during take-down)