Stenia pallida

This was purchased as Stenia calceolaris but proved on blooming to have been wrongly identified. Both that species and this are found in Ecuador, but this has a much wider distribution and is found also in Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru and Brazil. And while I would have preferred what I ordered, am happy enough with this species and its attractive flowers.

The plant grows to 12 cm and produces a fan of leaves that are rather attractive in their own right. The flowers are 6 cm, huge for the size of the plant, and are produced singly on semi-pendant spikes. The plant is considered warm to hot growing but it does fine for me in cool to intermediate conditions and is grown in live sphagnum in a net pot (the decorative pot is only for photos).

orchidsinbloom-ron.blogspot.com/2012/07/stenia-pallida.html