Dancing Lady Orchid
Oncidium sp. · Garden flowers
Dancing lady orchid
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, 7 February 2026
The common name comes from the shape of the flower itself: a wide skirt-like lip below a smaller hooded column that reads, in a breeze, as a tiny figure in a full dress.
Many of the "dancing lady" orchids sold today are hybrids across several closely related genera rather than pure Oncidium, which is why pinning down an exact species from the flower is harder than it used to be. In the wild the flowers mimic an oil-producing flower that a particular bee collects from, and get pollinated by the bee's mistake.
Birds, insects, plants and other wildlife, mostly from Brooklyn, with some from further afield.
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