Orthochilus aculeatus subsp. huttonii flower

The often pink-tinged flower of Orthochilus aculeatus subsp. huttonii is medium-sized and resupinate, the lip positioned at the bottom of the open flower, in the beginning bud at its top. Erect rows of lip surface protrusions from back to front are pale blue-purple, often white-tipped. The lip has two smaller, white lobes, in picture erect and round-tipped.

The petals and sepals are of similar colours, ranging in parts of ivory, greenish white and pink to purple. If pollinators were impressionable or easily scared, approaching this flower could be daunting, a place that looks threatening to those planning entry. Flower length is about 1,8 cm.

The flower has no spur. The prominent mid‑lobe crest of the lip was in the past mistaken for a spur, hence the common name of spurred pointed harlequin. But the “spur‑like” structure is a lip crest, not a spur.

The small knob on the forward-curving part in front of the dorsal sepal and between the two lateral petal tips is the anther cap, the top of the column where anthers and stigma reside (Germishuizen and Clarke, 2003; Pooley, 1998; iNaturalist; https://www.orchidspecies.com).