Haunting Orchids

Boo! There are orchids for every occasion, even Halloween. Here are some spooky orchids to haunt you, if you’re not too scared to go further…

Ghost Orchids (first photo)
The famous stars of The Orchid Thief earn a phantasmic name from their weird white blooms. Since these strange plants are leafless, the flowers seem to emerge from nowhere, and hover in the air like bizarre, ghostly apparitions.

Dracula Orchids (second photo)
These orchids hang upside down like bats, wear monkey masks, and smell like musty fungus. In the photo below, the black flower of Dracula vampira leaves a biting impression.

Spider Orchids (third photo)
Spider Orchids, or Brassias, don’t have eight legs, but their long petals help make them great arachnid mimics. They’re good enough to convince spider-hunting wasps to attack. It’s a freaky, sneaky way of tricking the wasps into pollinating them.

Ghost Orchid, Dendrophylax lindenii, shown at Orchid Society of NW Pennsylvania Show, Erie, PA, Spring 2010Dracula vampira ‘Walter’ x sib, orchid species with black flowers, Orchids in the Park, San Francisco, 2013Brassia flower, Spider Orchid, at Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden, Papaikou, Big Island, 2012

Bulbophyllums (fourth and fifth photos)
Some Bulbophyllum flowers stink like rotting meat. Others foul the air with a scent which smells like something you scraped off the bottom of your shoe. They’re beautiful blooms with foul fragrances.

Laelia anceps (sixth photo)
This native Mexican species traditionally decorates graves on the Day of the Dead, or Dia de los Muertos. Would you like these haunting orchids on your tombstone?

Bulbophyllum echinolabium (‘Golden Gate’ x self), orchid species, shown at Orchids in the Park 2011, San FranciscoBulbophyllum graveolens, orchid species, shown at Orchid Society of NW Pennsylvania Show, Erie, PA, Spring 2010Laelia anceps, orchid species, grown outdoors in San Francisco, California, traditonally placed on graves on the Day of the Dead in Mexico

Find more spooky orchids at Smithsonian Gardens. Happy Halloween!

Explore posts in the same categories: Fragrant Orchids, Misc, Photos

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3 Comments on “Haunting Orchids”

  1. Catherine A. Says:

    Flowers are nice, but I think I’ll skip the ones that smell like rotting meat.

  2. gj Says:

    ewww, gross :-p
    didn’t know there were so many creepy orchids

  3. AboutOrchids » Blog Archive » The Dracula Orchid Reserve Says:

    […] Dracula orchids may have a haunting side, but these fascinating Masdevallia relatives need your help.[…]