Some orchids pack an amazing display of flowers and this Brazillian oncidium fills its corner of the greenhouse with clouds of yellow flowers from March right through until the late autumn. In a good year we get 12 months of flowers!

This Brazillian species has recently been transferred from Oncidium to Gomesa along with many of the Brazillian oncidiums. It is native the the Mata Atlantica forests running along the Atlantic Coast of Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina. It is found from as an epiphyte from coastal marshes up to 1200m and adapted to the seasonal dry period by growing a mass of roots. We grow the species mounted as it has something of a climbing habit with each pseudobulb growing above the previous one. It regularly attaches itself to walls, supports, shading, other plants pots etc but we always forgive its naughty behaviour and admire the flowers.

It is a reliable tough species and delivers real impact each summer with masses of small yellow flowers on branched flower spikes as shown in the photographs. We have had this species in our collection since the start and it is one we would never be without. It grows warm or cool. The species has been used extensively in breeding hybrid Oncidiums, and passes on its free flowering habit.

We have seen similar species in Brazil where the mass of yellow oncidium flowers in the canopy can be seen hundreds of metres away, across a valley.