Porroglossum tripollex

Porroglossum is a genus of miniature orchids all of which have spring-loaded moveable, insect-trapping lips.  When the flower is disturbed by a visiting insect, the lip springs up trapping the insect against the column and hopefully effecting pollination.  The genus is related to Masdevallia and includes about 50 species.

In these photos the flowers all have their insect-trapping lips in the open position, except for the flower in the last photo.  The plant is difficult to photograph with the lips open because the slightest disturbance cause the lips to snap shot.  The flowers are 1.5 cm on 6-8 flower spikes on a 3 cm plant.

This small plant is Porroglossum tripollex from Ecuador.  I have two of these, one with brown "tails" and this with yellow.  The flower looks to me like a bird's beak, but tripollex means "three thumbs," a resemblance I do not see.  It is cool to cold growing and comes from montane forests.

Porroglossum hirtzii

Porroglossum hirtzii is from Ecuador (Alexander Hirtz is a well known German orchid collector in Ecuador).  The plant is 4 cm tall and the leaves are a dark green with a lightly pebbled surface.  The flowers spikes bear only one flower and are 10 cm long and tend to be pendant.  The flowers are 1.5 cm long and have the typical hinged lip of this genus, a lip that swings up when the flower is disturbed by a pollinating insect, trapping the insect against the column of the flower.  Two of the last three pictures show the flowers with the lip against the column.

Porroglossum rodrigoi

Tiny but colorful describes this miniature orchid from the Pleurothallid group.  Porroglossum rodrigoi is from Colombia and belongs to the same group of orchids as Masdevallia and Pleurothallis, and is, in fact, closely related to Masdevallia.  All the Porroglossums have a lip that springs up when disturbed by a small insect, trapping the insect temporarily against the column and effecting pollination.  The species has beautifully patterned 3 cm leaves, 9 cm flower spikes that produce a few 1.5 cm flowers in succession.  It requires cool temperatures and does bested for me mounted a piece of cedar shingle.  The photos show the flowers both with the lip open and closed.

Porroglossum meridionale

It seems to be Porroglossum season since almost all of mine are in bloom at the moment.  Porroglossum meridionale is another species from this genus of insect-trapping flowers.  The flowers have hinged lips and  when disturbed by a small insect the lip suddenly snaps up trapping the insect against the column, effecting pollination.  Most of the pictures show the lip open but the last two photos show the lip up against the column.  The plant is 6 cm tall, the flower spikes 10 cm in length, and the flowers 1.5 cm.  It comes from Peru.

Porroglossum dreisei

This is another species from Ecuador and a strange species indeed.  The Porroglossums are all oddities because of their moveable, insect-trapping lip, which when disturbed snaps up.  Several of the photos show flowers with the lips both open and closed.  Porroglossum dreisei is even odder than the other species in the genus with its clown-shaped blooms.  They are large as Porroglossums go, 1.5 cm on long flower spikes that produce a succession of flowers on 4 cm plants.

Porroglossum meridionale

It seems to be Porroglossum season.  Almost all of mine are in bloom at the moment.  Porroglossum meridionale is another species from this genus of insect-trapping flowers.  The flowers have hinged lips and  when disturbed by a small insect the lip suddenly snaps up trapping the insect against the column, effecting pollination.  Most of the pictures show the lip open but the close-up photo shows it shut against the column.  The plant is 6 cm tall, the flower spikes 10 cm in length, and the flowers 1.5 cm.  It hails from Peru.

Porroglossum rodrigoi

The Porroglossums are all miniature plants and all have an insect-trapping lip that springs up and mashes the insect against the column when the insect visits the flower, thus effecting pollination.  Two of the photos show the flower with the lip open and closed.  Porroglossum rodrigoi is a micro-miniature species from Colombia with beautifully patterned 3 cm leaves, 9 cm flower spikes that produce a few 1.5 cm flowers in succession.  The species is named for a Colombian orchid collector and requires cool temperatures to trive.  My plant is grown on a small piece of cedar shingle with some moss.

Porroglossum driesei

The Porroglossums are a strange groups of orchids.  They all have hinged, insect trapping lips and two of the pictures below show this species with the lip open and closed.  Porroglossum dreisei is from Ecuador and blooms repeatedly on the same flower spikes, so that it is seldom out of bloom.  The plant is 4 cm tall, the flower spikes are 12 cm long and the flowers 1.5 cm, oddly shaped and oddly colored.