Elleanthus aurantiacus

Native from Central America to Venezuela and Bolivia, it is an orchid that grows on the ground or on trees. It forms clumps of branching, cane-like stems covered by brown leaf sheaths. Its narrow, pointed leaves have lengthwise folds. Short flower clusters develop at the stem tips, carrying small orange and yellow flowers with a rounded, finely toothed lip. The fruit is a ridged, cylindrical capsule containing numerous tiny seeds. It often grows in large colonies on road cuts and in forest clearings, including sites disturbed by landslides. Photographed in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia.