Anguloa uniflora

The Anguloa uniflora plant is generally leafless come blooming time so the new growth has the only leaves on the plant The small genus Anguloa includes no more than 10 ''good ''species- they are easily distinguishable from closely related orchids by their characteristically structured and only partly open flowers .The members of this genus are in some languages called ''tulip'' orchids , apparantly for their obvious likeness to the flowers of the famous spring bulbous plants .

The species Anguloa uniflora has rather robust pseudobulbs with 2-4 flabby leaves, fimbriated lengthways. In dividual flowers that are later carried up on long flower spikes,are formed at the base of the pseudobulbs. The flowers are greenish to purple -white ,covered with fine purple dots and embellished with a yellowish spot in the centers.The tepals assume a typically helmet -like shape on the upper part of the flower ,and on the lower part they form a chin -like protuberance that is impossible to overlook. Cultivation is not very complicated : cultivate the plant epiphytically in a temparate environment , and in winter indulge it in a somewhat cooler period of rest. It blooms in late spring and in the summer and occurs in the wild in the South American Andes between Colombia and Peru.