Prosthechea cochleata

Prosthechea cochleata is an iconic orchid. It is the national flower of Belize where it is called the Black orchid, and fairly common across central america as far north as Florida and also found in the caribbean. Photo 4 shows a plant growing in Guatemala near the ancient Mayan city of Yaxha (where the species is known as the Green Sqid Orchid). Prosthechea cochleata has non-resupinate flowers (the lip is at the top) and are pollinated by large butterlies that grip hold of the base of the lip and push their proboscis to the nectar at the base of the column.

Prosthechea cochleata is found in open woodland from sea level right up to 1900m and so is tolerant of a range of temperatures. We grow the species indoors in good light or in our cloud forests greenhouse (min 12C) and it flourishes providing it is watered throughout the year and not allowed to shrivel. We have noticed that, in the dryer habitats like the one we photographed in Guatemala, plants have massive root systems to collect plenty of water. 

Prosthechea cochleata is very floriferous and flowers sequentially for several months on the flower spikes that emergy from the newest bulbs in summer.