Porroglossum hirtzii

This little orchid is from Ecuador. It belong to a genus of of orchids that all have hinged, insect-trapping lips. When the lip is touched it springs up trapping the insect between the lip and column and effecting pollination. Eventually the lip swings down once again and the process is repeated if pollination is not effected. In this photo the lip is up against the column due to my moving the plant for photographs. I'll have to post another picture of the flower with the lip down. The plant is only 4 cm tall and the flowers are 1 cm in size, but come singly on quite long, wiry spikes, 12-15 cm long, and as can be seen in the photo, the flowers have glandular hairs scattered over the surface of the flower..