Orchids of Colombia.
No country on Earth grows more orchids than Colombia. From misty Andean cloud forests to the lowland Pacific, roughly 4,270 species have been catalogued, and botanists still describe new ones every year.
The Cattleya trianae
Colombia's national flower is the Cattleya trianae, known locally as the Flor de Mayo, the May Flower. Its lilac petals and a vivid crimson-and-gold lip made it one of the most coveted orchids in the world during the 19th century.
It was named for the Colombian naturalist Jose Jeronimo Triana, who documented much of the country's flora. The flower grows wild on the forested slopes of the central Andes, though habitat loss has made it scarce in the wild and it is now legally protected.
A country built for orchids
Orchids thrive on variety, and Colombia has more of it than almost anywhere. Three branches of the Andes, two coastlines, the Amazon, and the Pacific Choco create a staircase of climates from sea level to permanent snow.
Most Colombian orchids are epiphytes: they grow on tree trunks and branches rather than in soil, drawing moisture from the humid mountain air. Each elevation band hosts its own community of species, which is why a single mountain ridge can hold hundreds of varieties.
More than any other country, roughly 15% of all orchids on Earth.
Found nowhere else, concentrated in the Andes and Choco.
Different species flower in every month somewhere in the country.
Gardens and cloud forests
You do not need to trek to see them. The annual Exposicion de Orquideas in Medellin is one of the largest orchid shows in the Americas, and the city's Joaquin Antonio Uribe Botanical Garden keeps a permanent orchidarium.
In the wild, the cloud forests around Medellin, the Coffee Region, and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta are the easiest places to spot epiphytic orchids clinging to the trees, often best seen on a guided birding or nature walk.
A country this alive is a country worth living in.
The same geography that grows 4,000 orchids gives Colombia its spring-like cities, its coffee, and its cost of living. See what it takes to move.
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