Bonatea polypodantha flower

The mainly green and white flowers of Bonatea polypodantha grow in a lax raceme, anything from two to fifteen of them. The plant has been called the many-footed bonatea, a name reflected in or derived from the specific epithet, polypodantha. Some flowers are whiter on the many socalled feet, others have more green.

The narrow, bonnet-shaped hood at the top of the flower consists mainly of the dorsal sepal, but two narrow upper lobes of the lateral petals cohere on the sides of the structure. The two lower petal lobes are also thin, longer and spreading widely below the two broad and short white lateral sepals with their wavy surfaces.

The lip is the usual Bonatea three-lobed structure positioned below, as is the case in resupinate or twisted orchid flowers. These lobes are thin, in this species particularly long, the central one slightly wider. There is also another foot (a spare?), a thin and long spur at the back of the flower attached to the lip, in picture the dark green cylinder curving in front of the paler green ovary.

The flowers of B. polypodantha exude a coconut scent. Flowering happens in late summer and early autumn (www.orchidspecies.com; Wikipedia).