Photo of the Day: Moth Orchid, New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY

I took the attached photo in mid-June, when, for the first time, I visited one of the true treasures of New York-- The New York Botanical Garden.

The formal name of this specimen from the plant kingdom is phalaenopsis, but that’s a mouthful, and most people simply prefer “the moth orchid.”  It’s considered the best orchid for growing at home, for a variety of reasons:

*Average home temperatures are usually right for it;

*It grows easily in a bright window; and,

*If it needs it, artificial lighting can be provided.

This type of orchid is especially popular in my neck of the woods, the Northeast. My guess is that Nero Wolfe, the corpulent but brilliant detective created by Rex Stout, took special care with this in his West 35^th Street brownstone.