This dramatic and delicate orchid comes from Colombia, Ecuador and Peru where it grows in cool cloud forests. The flowers are produced on branched spikes up to a metre long but our plant has some growing still to do to reach its full potential.

Spikes present a mass of flowers that seem to float in the wind from the nearby fan and are clearly evolved to be seen by pollinators from a long way off. The long spike is a useful feature in cloud forests where tree branches are crowded with ferns and bromeliads as well as orchids.