Re: I have an orchid...

Bob Beer (bbeer@u.washington.edu)
Thu, 6 May 1993 14:20:38 -0700 (PDT)

An orchid, by definition, has its flower parts in 3's - three sepals and
three petals, though often they are not easily distinguished except by
their position. The lower of the petals is formed into a lip which widely
varies from type to type.

Do the leaves come straight from the ground or do they arise from a
bulblike affair? (this would be obvious if they did, it wouldn't be
hidden underground). Is the lip an open, or tubular, or cup shaped lip?
Since you spoke of flat leaves lying oppposite each other, and a single
scape, I would suspect that it could be a Paphiopedium, or "slipper
orchid." The lip in this case would be either cuplike or balloon-like, as
in a lady's slipper orchid. But orchids are a gigantic family... If you
can describe the lip in more detail, we can probably pin it down, or get
closer.