Butterfly Orchid

Description

Psychopsis, abbreviated Psychp in horticultural trade, is a genus of 5 known species of orchids native to northern South America, Central America and Trinidad. It was formerly included in the massively paraphyletic "wastebin genus" Oncidium. The genus as a whole is commonly called butterfly orchids, but some species of other orchid genera are also called thus. Psychopsis very often grows on the trunks and branches of trees. The flowers look like large butterflies with brightly colored bodies (the lip, a modified petal), very long antennae-like petals, and outspread wing-like dappled yellow and brown sepals. The butterfly orchid is rumored to have started the European "Orchidmania" of the 19th century.