Naturally this miniature phalaenopsis  did not come in this glossy cardical* red, but the calligraphy ink which I painted it with did, and yellow too as you can see by the pot. This was exactly what I wanted to draw as soon as I bought the ink.   Sometimes called a moth orchid, though I wonder what had Mr Carl Linnaeus been thinking , or eating, when he described this orchid as moth-like, these plants initiate flowering when the daytime temperature drops below 27C, so it is particularly disruptive to render them in such a hot colour.

NB It may seem like a typo but cardical  red is the red of angora cardigans, one of which I owned as part of a twin set when I was six.