Brassia verrucosa
This species is native to Mexico and Central America. The flowers are quite large, about 6", clustered on spikes that reach over 20-30" long. They're said to be slightly fragrant with a peppery smell, but don't be fooled! My dining room has been shouting with fragrance since this puppy opened two weeks ago.
This a cooler grower, so the flowers are not liking the high heat we've had the last couple of days. That's why I was pushing to photograph the flowers today. Some are just fading.
The plant grows like a weed, and this year I had three spikes. I now understand it likes cooler winters to set its spikes, so I'm going to try that this winter. The first year I bought the plant it quickly put up 5 spikes. It grew like crazy, but I overpotted it and last year I got 1 spike. It's getting quite large now and put up 3 spikes this year. We'll see what the cooler winter rest will do next year...
Julie
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