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After five years, the orchid produced 400 flowers. Photo: IBAMA
Almost 10 feet tall and with more than 400 flowers, the biggest orchid in the world lives in Brazil; this has been stated by the Brazil’s government’s environmental agency.
Lou Menezes, Brazilian Institute of Environment and Natural Resources
The plant lives at the Orquidiario Nacional, a botanical garden in Brasilia, where after five years it has reached the maturity to produce flowers from 19 very long stems.
With spectacular poise and delicate perfume, the orchid has been crowned by the local media as “the queen of exile”, since it’s native to Malaysia.
The orchid from the genus Grammatophyllum, “has adapted very well to the challenging weather” of Brasilia, pointed out the biologist Lou Menezes, chief of the Orquidiario Nacional and expert from the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Natural Resources (IBAMA).
“New Creature”
Menezes says the plant was donated “when it was little” by an orchid enthusiast and flower lover, Odilon Cunha, owner of a huge orchid collection with species from all over the world.
The biologist, seizing the flowering stage of the orchid, has crossed this species with another one from Brazil’s savannah, Cyrtopodium brandonianum.
“With this process we are working towards the birth of a new hybrid, a Grammatopodium, whose birth name is yet to be determined”, says Menezes.
Fuente: http://www.bbc.co.uk