Flower ladder

Kind friends we were with at the weekend gave me this beautiful plant. It has orchid-like flowers, and similar shaped leaves, but a rather different stem structure. It looks rather like a ladder of flowers, and I love it. The creamy white blooms are quite delicate and almost translucent.

It is a Dendrobium Nobilis orchid, with a bamboo-like stem structure, and is native to the dense forests of Thailand, the Himalayas and the highlands of New Guinea. These orchids thrive in the wild clinging to trees, in a hot, humid environment. I had better remember to spray it regularly with a mist of warm water!