Orchid of the Week: Haraella retrocalla

Before I get into discussing this week’s featured orchid, I want to take a second to pat myself on the back because this is my 100th blog post! I’m pretty proud of my blog, so yay me. Also, I had my best blog day ever this week in terms of views—188 hits on Monday, January 10! Whoever’s reading…thank you!  🙂

Okay, the orchid I’ve chosen to write about this week is Haraella retrocalla. It’s a small epiphytic plant native to Taiwan with blooms that I think look like big fat yellow-and-purple bumblebees:

Haraella retrocalla
Photo credit: florzinha-de-estufa.blogspot.com

The blooms are even furry like bumblebees! Click the below photo to see all the amazing detail in the larger version. The bottom edge of this flower reminds me of a snowflake.

Haraella retrocalla close-up
Image credit: Thomas Ditlevsen

How adorable are these flowers?? In addition to being super cute, the blooms have a strong lemony fragrance that mimics the scent of a female beetle indigenous to the plant’s environment. So basically, these flowers seduce male beetles to ensure pollination. Such little temptresses!

On another note, I would just like to point out this random image that came up when I did a Google Image search for “haraella retrocalla.” I don’t really know what the hell this thing is, but I kind of like it:

Okay, one more Haraella retrocalla pic for the road, just ‘cuz:

Haraella retrocalla blooms
Image credit: Thomas Ditlevsen via http://www.orchids.se/

You may also like

7 comments

Leave a Reply

%d bloggers like this: