Black Bats

 Last fall I picked up an interesting plant at the local community yard sale. I managed to keep it alive...and it is now blooming! The plant is called the Black Bat Plant (sometimes orchid, a misnomer as Mr. A-(I)n-stein tells me it is in the yam family!) It naturally lives in the understory of rainforests in SE Asia. 

The black bat flower resembles a bat, from some angles, and has whiskers like a cat. It often blooms around Halloween, adding credence to its common name. 

This plant appears to like its location - in partial shade and in an area with high humidity - certainly not a problem in this area of Florida!