Encyclia alata

Native from southern Mexico through Central America, this orchid grows on trees in open tropical forest. It forms clumps of pear-shaped pseudobulbs, each bearing one to three leaves. Long arching flower stalks carry fragrant blooms with narrow yellow-green sepals and petals that become brown toward their tips. The broad lip has spreading side lobes and a ruffled yellow margin, with darker lines crossing its pale central surface. The combination of narrow outer segments and a broad, wing-like lip gives the flower its distinctive shape. Photographed in Colombia.