Orthochilus vinosus flowers

The flowers of Orthochilus vinosus grow in a dense spike, from 9 to 18 flowers per inflorescence. Flower shape tends towards campanulate or bell-shape, the petals and sepals more similar to each other than in Eulophia flowers that are closely related. Flower colour is bright pinkish purple.

The outstanding segment of the flower is the lip that sports a pale yellow and cream crest in its centre where thin papillae, fleshy protuberances, are borne in dense rows. The lip and the pair of lateral petals are positioned inside the whorl of three sepals that don’t seem to spread widely after an early life in the confined space left by the erect bracts (iSpot; www.orchidspecies.com).