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Details of the orchid Grammatophyllum speciosum are interesting. It is one of the most impressive of all orchids in the botanical world. They grow throughout south-east Asia, Indonesia and New Guinea, the Philippines and Islands of the south-west Pacific. This species holds the record as the world's largest and heaviest Orchid. Some specimens having a weight of several tons producing many thousands of flowers at the same time. The cane like stems can grow to a length of 3 m and are long and palm like. Flowers are usually some 7 to 10 cm wide with waxy greenish yellow and fine brown spots.The inflorescence are also a fragrant.
This particular specimen, illustrated in the attached photographs, is apparently the only known of its type to have flowered in Southern Africa. It has 10, 1.5 m long flowering spikes, each with approximately 50 flowers. The grower has had it in his possession some 16 years. It is 3.5 m across and 2.3m high. It has been grown in a partially shaded greenhouse in Cape Town, South Africa with high humidity and good air movement.