Wild Orchids of Tatama

By the second day me and Jaime had already begun to see and marvel over several different kinds of plants but one group that also attracts many tourists are the orchids native to this region.  Something about Tatama's orchids I noticed are that many species can be found throughout the Choco as far down south such as in Ecuador but it also has several that are only native to that area and nowhere else in the Choco.

Stelis Argentata 

In the midst of the cloudforest you can see them in almost every kind of niche and some species in abundance such as the sobralias which can be seen growing in all elevation levels.  

Elleanthus? 

When you compare the number of species that can be found in the Choco to the number species that can be found in the Amazon region the Choco most definitely wins that contest.  Even with as many different orchids we have discovered up to date there are still several new species being found in almost every corner in the world especially in places such as Tatama which contains close to 40% of Colombia's native orchids.

  

Maxillaria Speciosa a common species in the higher elevation 

Pleurothallid Octavioi

Stelis sp.