Thank you to Andreas from Bogotá, Colombia (aka Quimbaya@Flickr) for today’s photograph (BPotD Flickr Group Pool | original image). Much appreciated!
Roughly five hundred and seventy species can be found in the genus Maxillaria (list). These rainforest-inhabiting orchids are plants of the neotropics, being found only in Central and South America.
Maxillaria speciosa is an epiphyte native to Ecuador and Colombia. Its flowers are fragrant (like many others in the genus), but I don’t know what sort of fragrance it has – perhaps Andreas will comment and share that information.
Botany resource link: Fungi, from the Australian National Botanic Gardens, provides a wealth of information about mushrooms, mycelia and more!
Thanks Daniel for showing this photo on your wonderful BPotD blog; as everyday, my first web visit today was to your site, which has become part of my morning ritual.
Well, I find it quite difficult to describe this flower’s fragrance, but I would say it is most like scented baby powder or J&J baby oil. The fragrance is strong and I can clearly smell it when coming in from outside, although the plant is located on the other side of our house.