Seriously! The Monkey Orchid Flower

The Monkey Orchid flower is an orchid that grows in the Ecuadorian and Peruvian cloud forests. The reason its name is the Monkey Orchid is because when the petal opens up they shape and colours form a monkeys face.

Not many people have seen this flower throughout history because of its location. The flower grow between 1000 to 2000 metres above sea level on the side of mountains. Thanks to collectors though who hiked to the forests we get the chance to view these incredible flowers.

The flower is commonly known as the Monkey Orchid but its scientific name is Dracula Simia. Simia refers to the monkey face and Dracula because of the two long spurs which grow out of the flower and look like vampire fangs.

The flower was discovered in 1978 by botanist Luer and is part of an orchid family which contains over 120 species in Ecuador. It doesn’t flower in a specific season so can grow at anytime during the year. When the Monkey Orchid flowers it is supposed to smell like a ripe orange.

The orchid takes a lot of care and looking after and for those lucky enough to have one they thrive best when kept in a cool place and in partial shade.

 Source: