This time of year is always marked for us at Orchid Project by the delightful scent of this Brazilian species. The flowers are long lasting if kept dry and if you are into scented plants this is a must have species. We are pleased to say we have lots of seedlings in flask about six months from sale.

The species is native to the Mata Atlantica, Brazil, and in 2001 our expedition came across it growing on a bare granite mountain side West of Nova Friburgo.

As the photo shows, plants are growing in full sun with their roots holding firmly to the rock and very little around the plant to retain moisture. This rock was dry in the winter when we visited but would be running with water for much of the wet summer season. After seeing the plant in the wild we adjusted our growing of the species to give more light but keep cool temperatures (the altitude was around 1000m) and we grow plants in the unshaded south facing doorway of the Cool Americas section.