Commonly called Lady Slippers, these orchids are terrestrial, or are found growing in the ground as opposed to epiphytic orchids which can grow on trees or rocks. Some paphs are said to reproduce the smell and odor of rotting flesh in an attempt to attract pollinating insects. This one amazes me--the lower slipper-like sepal appears to have veins like human skin and the hairy, scabby upper sepals are truly horrific. Not your typical prom-corsage orchid is it?It fascinates me every time it blooms.
Technorati tags: Wordless Wednesday, orchids, paphilopedilum, photography, lady's slippers, gardening
56 comments:
What a horrific looking plant, looks like a giant bug. Great picture.
That's quite the interesting looking flower you have there... Quite frightening actually...
It definitely reminds me of a human body part, but not one belonging to a lady...I guess some would associate it with prom night...
That's truly hideous :-O
LOL at Jeana's comment - it does look like a giant bug tho!! Happy WW - ours is up as well.
Wow! I've never seen such a dark one either. Fantastic and unusual. I'm always so impressed over mother natures work!
My WW is: “Slip On The Ship”
(Because of our fabulous cyber cruise that starts now on Friday the 16th of March with many fantastic destinations such as: Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Spain, Germany, Alaska (!), US, Italy, Dominican Republic, Australia and other mystery destinations!)
never thought I'd see an ugly orchid. Guess thats my lesson for the day. I kinda agree with Jeana's comment
I see the body part resemblance, too. LOL
Not only is that thing ugly-cool, I can see where artists like HR Geiger got their inspiration (he's the dude who designed Alien. Yeah, THAT alien. Look out, Sigourney, it's still after you.)
Ok, I am so glad everyone beat me to the "Part" reference.
I showed my two oldest CHILDREN the picture and asked if it reminded them of anything, and both of them said...the same thing I did.
Which made Mrs Lifecruiser's comments funny too. And her comments make me think sayings that start with "Once you go black..." or "It's not the size of the ship..."
I can't wait till Shalee sees this post.
Oops! I thought it was a bug at first. Neat pic! Happy Wednesday!
Hmmm....strange. Alienesque!
do you grow these?! I know you've posted orchid pix before. As a plant-killer, I am in awe of anyone who can grow plants. I just posted something similar to my flickr space, so I'm pleased that you're saying it's a kind of a lady-slipper orchid, that was my first guess on mine. We have wild lady slippers in parts of Michigan, but I've never seen the fancy ones. Very nice!
Simply amazing.
My kids would LOVE that flower.
It does look like something from an alien planet =P
Reminds of a body part ,too!
Fantastic! I love the detail. I have to agree with some of the others that it looks like a body part.
Quite different from the others! :)
Sorry, but that definitely looked like "pr0n" to me! My first thought was "What the HELL is Scribbit up to now??". ;-)
This is a beautiful plant. there is something special about tropical plants indoors!
It reminds me of the movie, "Little Shop of Horrors."
I had to look very closely at that several times to even begin to fathom what it was! At first I thought it was a bug via macro-photography - imagine my surprise to read that it was an orchid!
*LOL* Yeah, I guess I have a dirty mind...it looks like something human to me as well.
Great shot!
I thought it was a picture of a spider for a minute. Gross!
I don't think I want any in my arrangement! It's very strange looking! Great WW!
This brings back memories of walking through the woods as a kid. Though the ones I came across were real beauties and descriptive of their name.
That looks like a bat out of you know where!
Ug - I had to look several times to determine plant or insect...it's properly named that's for sure....LOL
Hugs,
Holly
Ug - I had to look several times to determine plant or insect...it's properly named that's for sure....LOL
Hugs,
Holly
This grows in Alaska? Who woulda thunk?
Can I explain? Maybe I'm a naive little babe in the woods here but I really wasn't trying to post anything *ahem* suggestive! :)
I'm all about "family friendly" here people, get your minds out of the gutter :)
What a beauty.
Mine is up too.
Hi, I came to your blog because Elena Jane (what she said too) refered me. We are moving to Alaska this summer.
That plant is horrific looking. Does it really smell that bad? It sure looks it.
That thing is creepy! ;)
Great picture, happy WW!
It certainly looks like a familiar something I've seen before...
Lol!
Thats an awesome picture...had to look twice
that photo is amazing! what an interesting plant.
WOW~that's a CLOSEUP! Nicely done although I personally don't care for Lady Slippers.
Have a wonderful Wednesday and when you have time, come see mine on My Photo Blog
Truly amazing.
Outstanding! Threw you a link.
Rotting fish, eh? Whatever works, I guess.
Scribbit, I have no idea as to what Jeana is suggesting I might think about this picture. I understand that you run a family-friendly place here, and my mind has never been in said gutter.
But now that you mention it, it does remind me of something that could get a girl in the family way... I'd definitely say that falls into the family "friendly" category!
And really I could think of several ever-so-clever prom night quotes for Mrs. Lifecruiser's "Slip on the Ship" comment in conjuction with Jeana's human body part musings. But I shall refrain from posting them here, and giggle like a high schooler with Jeana behind the scenes. (Tee hee hee.)
I thought it was some type of bug at first!
That actually kind of freaks me out.
Eeewwww! That flower scares me - like a big ugly spider! My WW is of my dog. Much cuter, but less fascinating.
Oh dear! (my mock modesty, trying to fool you into thinking I'm shocked by such things...)
That looks totally awesome! What beauty!
I was actually a little scared when I saw this!! My WW is up, too.
Up close, that thing looks scary!
Exactly what I said on my honeymoon.
We have lady slippers growing in our woods but I haven't seen one like that. They are actually our provincial flower (PEI) but they look a little prettier than that variety.
But yes...I have always noticed the resemblance to a certain part of the anatomy :)
i've never seen that color variety. i do love orchids. my mother use to raise them and had hundreds. i usually go to photograph them at the botanical building in balboa park.
ewwww...is this one of your plants? I mean...wow...that really does look like veins in human skin. That is wild and crazy looking.
I think I'm going to have nightmares about that tonight. Cool photo though.
Oh my goodness. I just read everyone's comments. All I can say is: "whew, I'm not a nasty-minded girl after all!"
Wow, it looks like the alien from Alien at that angle!
I love Lady Slipper's...I've been wanting to get some for my shade garden.
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