Orthochilus chloranthus ridged ovaries

The twisting ridges upon the ovaries of these green and sagging Orthochilus chloranthus flowers are better displayed than the tepals, usually the highlight of an orchid flower. At least they shine, contrasting against the dry brown bracts, small and pointed, growing at the base of each flower in the inflorescence.

Ovaries appear twisted on those orchid flowers that are resupinate, i.e. presenting their open faces upside down from the way the buds were originally formed. Or maybe it is the non-resupinate orchids that are upside down, their lips being at the top and their "dorsal" (median) sepals below.

The stalk of the flower spike zigzags slightly at each node where a flower emerges (www.africanorchids.dk).