PlantFiles: Wax Flower Orchid
Scuticaria hadwenii

Scuticaria is a small genus of orchids from South America, usually adapted to live on the harsh savanna climate. This species is an exception, living on the humid mountain tops of Rio de Janeiro as epiphyte on small trees and shrubs of those areas.

It has a cylindric, pendulous pseudobulb and 1 long, succulent, and cylindric leaf. The flowers are single, 4 cm across, pale yellow with large red spots. The lip is open, also yellow with red spots, but white on the lower page. This flower parts are very hard. If you try to bend a petal, you will only break it. The texture and consistence ressemble wax.

This plant should be better cultivated on hanging baskets with bark bits, as it will grow down a lot. It also form large colonies, and will need room to grow. It likes filtered sun light, high humidity (specially at night) and moisture, and moderate temperatures. I don´t know if it can take frosts.

There is a variety (S. hadwenii var. strictifolia) with much shorter and erect leaves, and pale yellow flowers with light brown spots that lives on the same conditions as the typical variety.