Sigmatostalix picta "in situ"

Near Mindo, Ecuador

 

I visited the Mindo area a few weeks after a strong storm had passed by. The number and variety of orchids on the fallen twigs and branches that the locals had piled by the roadsides was staggering.

 

I have only seen these plants in the flesh in Ecuador. I have seen photos of lighter flowers in IOSPE. But all the ones I saw in Ecuador were brightly colored. This photo was taken with a point and shoot, a Canon g10. The trick is using the manual setting for focusing, having a trip and lots and losts of patience. The automatic focusing setting can stubbornly refuse to focus on the flowers and instead focus on the background.

 

For all that its worth; i saw them growing all over the place in an area where temperatures averaged 45F at night and 75F at day. Humidity was quite high, more than 80% would be my guess. The plants were growing mostly in slender branches but that might be an artifact that those were the branches that snapped during the storm. All the plants I was had a strong purplish red color.