This orchid is native to Colombia. It grows in intermediate to warm mountain forests
at approximately 1,312 feet (400-m) in elevation. This species requires shade and copious
amounts of water. I grow the plant on
the north side of my house, and it appears
to need more shade thus it grows better here than with greater sun exposure. This species has golden yellow flowers with pale
red eye spots on the upper hypochile, and few small red spots on the petals and
sepals. There are also small red spots
on the epichile and column. The
fragrance of this Stanhopea is
difficult to describe and smells sweet but rather chemical-like. The fragrance is similar to sweet grass with
trace amounts of fresh pine needles. Some individuals have described the
fragrance as being similar to moth balls, but I have not detected this
fragrance in fresh flowers.
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| Stanhopea stevensonii inflorescence |
The flowers
are 3.0 to 3.2 inches (7.6 to 8.1 cm) wide with several flowers (5-7) on an inflorescence. The inflorescences are rather short, to 6
inches (15.2 cm) in length. This is one
of the smaller Stanhopea with short
inflorescences, so it is best to grow it in a small basket. I grow my specimen in an 8 inch (20 cm)
basket and it has been doing well in that size basket for years. The leaves of
this orchid are a light green, and are 7.5 to 10.5 inches (19 to 26 cm) long
and 3.9 to 4.8 inches (10 to 12 cm) wide.
The pseudobulbs are 1.6-2.2 inches (4.0 to 5.6 cm) long and deeply
furrowed.
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| Stanhopea stevensonii flower |
