Stanhopea oculata [Lodd.] Lindley
Stanhopea is a large flowering epiphytic orchid native to South America with oval ridged pseudobulbs with a single large pleated leaf . Flowering shoots begin at the base of the pseudobulb and go downwards coming out of the basket before the flower buds begin to enlarge .
The inflorescence is pendulous with 2 to 12 flowers /spike . It takes 1 to1 1/2 month to grow buds to flowering stage. 
The flowers are 5 ” across ; sepals and petals cream colored with red purple spots & the orange labellum with burgundy eyes on it ; the flowers last only for 5 days .They have powerful vanilla chocolate fragrance because of the osmophores (fragrance producing glands designed to attract the male Euglossa sp.) at the base of the labellum.
Stanhopeinae contain some of the most exotic pollination mechanisms found in orchids . They are pollinated exclusively by male euglossine bees collecting fragrant chemicals from the flowers, and the complex floral shapes manipulate the bees to place pollinia on precise locations on the bee’s body.
Some Stanhopeas are pollinator-specific with only one species; S. oculata is interesting because its labellum, the mesochile (the section with the two dark spots) has a sharp, 90° bend in it . This bend allows six euglossine bee species to pollinate it
Biological classification for Genus Stanhopea (belonging to sub-tribe Stanhopeinae) is as below,
Plantae > Angiosperms > Monocots > Asparagales > Orchidaceae > Epidendroideae > Maxillariaceae > Stanhopeinae
Article by : Saroj Mahajan
