A wonderful new orchid just bloomed in George’s garden.

Scaphosepalum antenniferum orchid

Small  flowers, less than a half inch tall and wide, on a long stem, more than a foot high, and a long name: Scaphosepalum antenniferum. George is the first to admit that spelling is not one of his strong points, but he always gets these complicated orchid names right.  This is a closeup front view of one of the flowers.

And this is a side view.

Scaphosepalum antenniferum orchid

The name antenniferum is from the Latin antennifer, “antenna-bearing”, referring to the appearance of the tails.

It’s a species orchid that’s native to South America, found in the cloud forest where it’s always cool — which may be why it’s so happy in El Cerrito this summer, where we’re having much lower than normal temperatures!