Photo taken on Nov 09, 2012

Small flowers, but in big (up to 50 items on one) inflorescences. Originates from Philippines where it grows on stones in mossy forests, at the altitude of 1400-2500 m (source). Dendrochilum is probably from Greek dendron (tree) + cheilos (lip); and Cobb (Walter Cobb) was the first one to flower this plant in UK.

Sometimes it's difficult to find something more than simple facts :/. Looking ahead: some plants still have riddles which were not solved by humans. And maybe there are still riddle which were not even proposed :). Orchid and bromeliad families are rich with such enigmas, and that's why for a number of “whys” and “hows” there will be only “may-bes”, ”probablies” and “most-likelies” in this post.

St. Petersburg Botanical Garden, orchids and bromeliads exhibition

species Cobb`s dendrochilum Dendrochilum cobbianum