Mtssa Shelob 'Tolkien'

[angela]

Beautiful Miltassia ! Oops Bratonia!!! Whatever it is called, I call it beautiful. The colours add great interest.
Congrats. I too wouyld like to have one.

[Flower_Faerie]

That's beautiful. One I have had on my "wish list" for a couple of years, but haven't come across yet....
Definitely much prettier than the spiders that come indoors here!
(I am a Tolkien fan, but not a spider fan - except for spider orchids, of course!!!)

[coeruleo]

i bought one of these in bloom. they are stunning, although maybe not all pink and pretty like people think of orchids. it quickly sent up a second spike, and after the flowers from my encyclia cordigera and onc twinkle faded, i realized they actually have a scent of their own, although not really as strong or as sweet, they do have an interesting honey spice scent that is hard to decribe. my flowers lasted maybe 2 months, and are now fading, but it is sending up a 3rd spike already.

[TwoStems]

Gorgeous orchid!!! What is your secret??

[Fereydoon]

Hi, Is there a history behind the name and the clonal name of this orchid ? Thanks

[Dorsetman]

Hi, Is there a history behind the name and the clonal name of this orchid ? Thanks

Tolkien - Professor JRR Tolkien, wrote a set of stories, made into films which I believe were a hit all round the world - called The Lord of the Rings. In them there is a fearsome giant spider, guarding a passageway leading through a mountain. The spider was called Shelob.

This is a so-called spider orchid.....or at least one oif its parents is a Brassia, which is usually called the spider orchid.

Oddly enough, I have never seen the films, on the big screen or on tv - deliberately - although I have read the books many times - they are great favourites of mine; when I was working and had to dash off on a long flight to the other side of the world, in a hurry, taking minimum luggage since I would probably only be at the destination for a day or two, I used to take this as my reading matter - at several (?) thousand pages I never ran out of book even on 15 hour flights and long waits in airports etc.

[Fereydoon]

Thank you for the explanation Geoff. I have one and it did bloom months ago and now it's have another spike. I did upload some pictures of the blooms in the photography section.