An angel of the morning- Thrixspermum ligulatum

One can easily separate the true species orchid nut from the rest. Some orchids have very tiny flowers, some have disgusting odors, and some have flowers that last for only a few hours. This plant belongs to the latter.

Thrixspermum ligulatum is endemic to the Philippines in the provinces of Laguna, La Union, Quezon, and Rizal on Luzon, and the island of Leyte in the Visayas, but may be more widely spread.

This is perhaps the most robust species in the section as represented in the Philippines. The pendulous, upwardly curved, flattened stems grow to almost a meter long, the distal portion of which have long, cord-like roots coming out from both the upper and lower sides. The pendulous, strap-like, shiny leaves are up to 21 cm. long by 4.5 cm. wide and turn a dark purple-red when grown in full sun. The sub-pendulous, zigzag, inflorescences with their flattened floral bracts appear from opposite the leaf axils and are up to 8 cm. long. During the peak flowering period, each plant can have as many as four active inflorescences at once, each capable of bearing up to 15 flowers, although only one or two are open at a time. The flowers are a soft yellow color with purple-infused side lobes; some specimens from Leyte have very showy purplish-pink coloration around the region of the side lobes. Look here: http://www.phytoimages.siu.edu/cgi-bin/dol/dol_terminal.pl?taxon_name=Thrixspermum_ligulatum&rank=binomial

These flowers are 5.5 cm across and large for thrixspermums. Compared to many other species within the genus, these blooms emit a faint odor that isn't exactly fragrant. Flowering has been recorded from January and May to December.

The species name 'ligulatum' means 'strap-shaped' and refers to the leaves.

These are epiphytes on rough-barked trees in lower mixed dipterocarp forests, scrubby forests and even on secondary growths near human habitation, often close to bodies of water. Altitudinal distribution is at ca. 200 to 500 m.

Badly collected plants, especially those with extensive root damage, almost always fails to re-establish themselves and are often a waste of time to deal with. Nevertheless, they can be grown on mounts in a partly shaded to very brightly lit positions with adequate humidity and year-round watering. Grow in lowland to intermediate temperatures. This species can be expected to flower in low-lying tropical cities as long as humidity requirements are met.

Earlier on in this post I mentioned the short-lived flowers of thrixspermums. This one has flowers that open very early in the morning and begin drooping at 10 AM. So if you have been keeping an eye on those buds and you woke up late on the day you were expecting them to pop, you're in for a facepalm-able moment. But you can sing these lines in your head:

Just call me angel of the morning, angel
Just touch my cheek before you leave me, baby
Just call me angel of the morning, angel
Then slowly turn away
I won't beg you to stay with me