RHH's photos with the keyword: ciliolata

The genus Stelis has hundreds of species, but many species have very tiny and insignificant green flowers. This species is an exception. These flowers though not large (15. cm) are strikingly colored with the flowers beautifully set off by the white hairs for which the species is named. The flowers are unusual, too in that the petals, lip and reproductive "column" are reduced to tiny structures at the center of the flower, something characteristic of many of most of the species in the genus. This species is from Ecuador.

This miniature orchid from Ecuador is found at high elevations and requires cool temperatures in cultivation. Its name, "ciliolata," refers to the white "hairs" which fringe the sepals. The plant is small, about 12 cm, with flower spikes that bloom over a very long period of time and reach a length of 20 cm. The flowers themselves are nearly 1.5 cm in size. orchidsinbloom-ron.blogspot.com/2011/10/stelis-ciliolata....

Just had to post one more picture of these unique flowers. They are small - each one is only 1.5 cm, but they have up to six flowers open at a time and bloom successively on rather long spikes. This orchid species is from Ecuador. Published in the December, 2011, issue of Orkideer, the magazine of the Swedish Orchid Society in an article on orchid photography. The editor of the magazine, Karma Forester, has a site on Flickr, www.flickr.com/photos/myorchids/ and a blog, www.orchidkarma.com . This was published again in on the front cover of the December 2012 issue of Orchids, the magazine of the American Orchid Society as the feature photo for an article showing some of the AOS's orchid photos of the week. orchidsinbloom-ron.blogspot.com/2011/10/stelis-ciliolata....