Alien Orchid - Dendrobium spectabile

This Dendrobium spectabile Orchid is also known as Alien Orchid for its odd and unique look/shapes.

Saw them at the Gardens of the Sleeping Giant. This is a highly priced and collector's Orchids.

Aside from its unique appearance, the flowers are protected from being fertilized by flying insects by covering the pollen and seed. However the flower is hinged and crawling insects can go under the hinged portion of the flower. It apparently wants to be fertilized by a specific insect for which it has evolved a mechanism to accomplish this. Possibly it once grew in an area where an insect would take its pollen without fertilizing the plant. Nature finds a way to adapt.