You like purple? This Orchid is PURPLE, as in dark as violet night…
Notwithstanding the white background beneath the network of purple veins, serving actually to intensify our impression of the purple parts by contrast, if this makes sense.
The stigma of this orchid features an even deeper purple labellum as well as a white column that practically glows.
The column, by the way, is an orchid thing that combines both pistil and anther, while that crinkly labellum is the only petal an orchid possesses. My sources say the labellum (or petal) helps in the reproductive cycle, but neglects to specify how.
And what are the big things that look like they might be petals? They’re actually sepals.
Orchid land is a strange place.
Below is my halfattempt to label the parts discussed above:
