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Orchid Hunter

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Orchid Gallery

Brassia rex

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Brassia rex Introduction Vanda coerulea Stanhopea wardii Catasetum pileatum Tolumnia bahamensis Phalaenopsis Taisuco Kochidan Masdevallia ignea Brassia rex Himantoglossium hircinum Laelia purpurata Aerides odorata Spathoglottis plicata Schomburgkia splendida Dendrobium stratiotes Phragmepedium caudatum Coelogyne massangeana
 

Named in honor of William Brass, a 19th-century British botanical illustrator, this orchid grows in the wet forests of tropical Central and South America, but it is also comfortable in cultivation. Many species in the genus Brassia are pollinated by parasitic wasps, which normally lay their eggs on spiders. The patterns and structure of Brassia orchids resemble a spider in its web enough to encourage these wasps to lay their eggs in the plants' blossoms and in doing so pollinate them.

 
     
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