One of the plants we have sent to the BBC for the Green Planet series is this wonderful large growing species from Ecuador. (Another South American country ticked off our list for South Americas Week)

This species is native to warm forests and we have seen similar Acinetia species in Costa Rica growing as massive epiphytes in the lower branches of large trees on the lower slopes of Poaz Volcano.

the plant itself is a monster with 60cm long leaves from large ridged pseudo bulbs. The plant has 6 spikes that will flower over the next 4 weeks or so. We grow the species in a large basket in our warm Americas section and water it heavily during the growing season in our summer.