Ansellia africana aka Leopard Orchid

Ansellia africana, also known as African ansellia or leopard orchid, is a monotypic genus of orchid found throughout neotropical and subtropical Africa. It was named after John Ansell, an English assistant botanist who discovered the first specimens on the Fernando Po Island in West Africa in 1841. This epiphytic orchid is characterized by its large size, with upright, cane-like pseudobulbs reaching up to 120cm tall. The plant has six or seven green, leathery leaves arranged alternately on the upper half of each pseudobulb. These lance-shaped leaves can last for two or more seasons and measure up to 40cm long and 4cm wide. The flowering stems, emerging from the upper nodes of mature canes, can reach up to 85cm and carry sparsely-spaced, pale yellow flowers measuring 2-3cm in diameter. Ansellia africana is often referred to as a "trash basket" orchid due to its habit of creating a makeshift container of aerial roots to catch falling leaf litter for nutrients. It is an epiphyte, attaching itself to tree branches with specially adapted roots that absorb water and nutrients quickly. The roots form a dense mass around the pseudobulbs, and the plant feeds on rotting leaves and detritus. This orchid flowers during the dry winter months, producing yellow or greenish yellow blooms with brown spots. In the wild, Ansellia africana can live for a long time and grow to be very large, with some estimated to weigh over a tonne.