Many orchid species are quite variable in flower colour as todays orchid shows. We have this species in a light pink and dark pink form but both of them smell strongly of chocolate and so this is a very popular at school (if you came to the British Orchid Show you couldn’t miss the fragrance which currently fill our Cool Americas section.

When grown well it produces several spikes of long lasting flowers from each pseudobulb and so a great little display. It also flowers when quite a small seedling and so is a rewarding plant to grow from seed.

The species is native to Central America where it grows in humid forests up to 1500m altitude and though it seems not to be fussy about temperatures it does best for us in our Cool Americas Section. This plant is mounted on an old piece of Elder but it does well for us mounted or in pots.

This species has been used in breeding hybrids which also have the delicious chocolate scent.