A Great, Big Spider Orchid
I don’t mind having a big spider in our home, as long as it’s a Spider Orchid. Also known as a Brassia, this Spider Orchid has very large flowers, over 14 inches (36 cm) tall! Its long petals certainly create a spidery impression.
This plant was a great buy at a local grocery store a couple years ago for about $12. At first, its flowers were about 11 inches (28 cm) tall. Over successive blooms, they’ve grown slightly larger each time. It’s reliably flowered twice a year, and it stays in bloom for two months or more. It has a sweet, spicy scent.
Brassias mimic spiders to attract pollinators. In the wild, spider-hunting wasps are taken in by the ruse, and attack the flowers. In the process of their assault, they pick up or drop off pollen. It’s certainly one of the strangest pollination strategies I’ve ever heard of. To learn more about these fascinating plants, check out my previous post about Brassias.
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