This is not a butterfly taking a rest on a piece of
shrubbery. This is a “Psychopsis papilio” much known as the butterfly orchid, has
petals of an incredible length, look like antennae and its speckled brown and
yellow sepals look like outspread wings. It was formerly included in the
massively paraphyletic "wastebin genus" Oncidium. The genus as a
whole is commonly called butterfly orchids, but some species of other orchid
genera are also called thus. Currently
the World Checklist of Monocotyledons recognizes four species: Psychopsis:
papilio, krameriana, sanderae versteegii. Psychopsis with 38 chromosomes and
two pollinia grow epiphytically in wet rainforest and also dry upland forest. It
will flower for up to ten years and with each flower the stem gets that little
bit longer. However, they can bend with
the wind, resisting gusts of over 40 miles per hour. The pseudobulbs are tightly clustered, oval,
oblong and almost round, and very compressed, wrinkled, often dull red. The flower
leaves are solitary and erect and inflorescences are typically solitary per
bulb, jointed and arched, arising from the base out of a sheath, producing a succession
of flowers which last approx. The
butterfly orchid can also withstand extreme watering as well as accidental
drying out with some ease. The four variant species of Psychopsis originate
from the West Indies, Peru and Costa Rica.
In the wild the orchid clings to the branches and trunks of trees. When it flowers in its natural habitat it
must look like a host of butterflies have chosen to rest in the same place at
the same time. It took 10 days, variable in color and size from inflorescence
to inflorescence and from blooming to blooming. Never cut the inflorescence
until it is clearly spent as old inflorescences will continue to produce
flowers for many years.
The butterfly orchid is rumored to have started the European
"Orchidmania" of the 19th century. The narrow, upright attenuated
dorsal sepal and petals are dull to vibrant red-brown often with a narrow
yellow picotee or with a few yellow transverse stripes. The broad, often down
swept lateral sepals are canary yellow heavily marked with uneven transverse
red-brown bars. The large lip is three-lobed with a large canary yellow center,
bordered by a red-brown band. In addition to the normally pigmented forms, pure
yellow forms devoid of the red pigment also exist. Flowering occurs at
intervals throughout the entire year and well grown plants will have many
inflorescences with more than one flower per inflorescence. In their native
habitat Psychopsis have a preference the trunks and branches of trees where
they dry out quickly though they do not like to dry out completely and do not need
a rest period. The Psychopsis are intolerant of stale conditions at their roots
and benefit from annual repotting, especially in bark mixes. The roots of these
plants are fine and subject to salt burn if the potting medium is not frequently
flushed with pure water. Because of their fat pseudobulbs, cultural problems
can go undetected until noteworthy damage has been done.
