PlantFiles: Bat Orchid, Bucket Orchid
Coryanthes speciosa

To date, Coryanthes has to be one of the most peculiar looking plants I've ever seen. It's an epiphytic orchid from Central to South America.

Has evergreen, broadly lance shaped, elliptic, ribbed leaves. Bears large, scented, brownish through to pale yellow flowers with maroon speckles. The lip is like a bucket and has a mucilaginous substance in it. The whole flower looks like a bat with no hair.

In it's native environment it grows on ant nests. Needs acidic media and high humidity (around 80%) in partial shade. Grows best in baskets as the flower spike hangs straight down. Water well during the growing period, less so in the rest period but it should never be allowed to dry out.

The heavy scent of the flower attracts certain species of bees seeking nectar. The bee falls into the large lip but cannot climb out of the bucket due to the smooth walls and mucilaginous substance. The only way out is through a small tunnel which is where the pollen is held. As the bee crawls out, it touches the stigma, then the pollen which is deposited on its back. The next flower the bee visits, the same thing happens and the pollen from the first flower is pressed onto the stigma by the action of the bee crawling out.

Certainly not a plant for a beginner but worth looking at.

This is one of the subtropical ground orchids. Blooms are deep purple turning black as the flower ages. Blooms are about the size of an adult's hand.