Orchid of the Week: Brassavola Nodosa

I’m WAY overdue for an orchid of the week post—or any post, really. So sorry about that, folks! I hope you’ll forgive me for being totally MIA. This week’s featured orchid is inspired by my mom, who texted me a photo of her blooming Brassavola nodosa yesterday. So in honor of her good growing, this post is about the B. nodosa!

This orchid is native to Mexico, the West Indies, Venezuala, and Peru. It’s known as the “Lady of the Night” orchid because it is fragrant, but only in the evening. Some say its fragrance is citrusy and gardenia-like, which sounds rather lovely to me. Let’s have a look at some photos, shall we?

Photo credit: brassavolaorchids.com

Photo credit: fireflyforest.net
Photo credit: myorchidcare.com

This orchid’s blooms can be long lasting (up to one to two months!), so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that they are still around when I go home for Thanksgiving in two weeks! The Brassavola nodosa also has the ability to bloom more than once a year, given the right environment and care. This type of orchid likes medium to high light levels, intermediate to warm temperature, and humidity of 50% or higher.

Here is my mom’s lovely B. nodosa as of yesterday:

Beautiful! Looks like a second bloom is in the works.

The Brassavola nodosa’s scientific classification is as such:

Subfamily: Epidendroidaea

Tribe: Epidendraea

Subtribe: Laeliinae

Genus: Brassavola

Section: B. sect. Cuneilabia

Species: B. nodosa

Boom. Orchid of the week is back. Congratulations to my mom for getting this little guy to bloom for her for the first time!

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6 comments

  1. Living in Southern California I occasionally drive down to Mexico. A couple years ago I brought back a few Ladies of the Night which are native to that part of the world and they do incredibly well indoors. Unfortunately, the wonderfully pungent odor they emit at night caused me to sneeze violently, so I had to evict them from the house.

    My Brassasvolas now live in my front balcony where they continue to thrive because they are so hardy.

    By the way, I love your blog and I visit it frequently. I have also incorporated your link within my OrchidCare.org site as a valuable resource for my visitors. Would you be willing to return the favor by placing my link within your links section?

    I thank you in advance.

    1. That’s too bad that you were allergic to the B. nodosa scent! At least you’re able to keep them going outside.

      Thanks so much for your kind words about my blog and including it in your links section. I’ve added a link to your site to my links section as well! 🙂

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