One of the craziest looking orchids I’ve seen in person is the Psychopsis krameriana, aka Kramer’s Butterfly Orchid:
I was just reminded of these orchids the other day while perusing the orchid selection from Silva Orchids at the Union Square Greenmarket. Silva had a couple Psychopsis plants for sale and of course I considered buying one. I managed to restrain myself – hooray!
I first encountered Psychopsis at the NYBG‘s 2009 Orchid Show. It was one of the more unique-looking orchids on display and I was completely taken with it. At first glance this orchid looks like a butterfly, but when you look closer you find something more sinister:
As a fan of all things sinister, I immediately fell in love with the Psychopsis. When I discovered the orchid’s name, I became even more enamored of it because I’m all about psychology. And of course I found another Psychopsis to photograph at this year’s Orchid Show:
The level of detail on these blooms is just incredible. Psychopsis orchids are part of the Oncidium family, which is known for its delicate yet detailed flowers.
I thought these orchids were so cool that (shameless plug ahead!!) I felt compelled to create Psychopsis Orchid postage stamps for my Zazzle store. 🙂
These are gorgeous Psycopsis pictures!! I bought a fellow orchid friend a Psycopsis as a wedding gift a few years ago and from what I understand, it has been in almost consistent bloom for years now!
What an awesome wedding gift! Thanks for commenting. Maybe I’ll end up with a Psychopsis one of these days. 🙂
I love the pictures very much! I am an orchid grower myself and I just enjoy taking care of them. It relaxes me from a hard day’s work in the office.
I found a really inexpensive psychopsis orchid through mail order, and it is doing great. Unfortunately it was quite small when it arrived, but it is growing like crazy. I hope that it will bloom within the next couple of years. I hear the blooms are spectacular and quite large; I can’t wait to see them in person.
Amazing! The blooms that I’ve seen in person have been big. They are quite stunning plants!!