Orchid flowers (Encyclia pygmaea, also known as Hormidium pygmaeum). Each flower has a central white lip surrounded by pointed sepals and petals. The lip is a specialised petal that attracts pollinators to the flower and provides them with somewhere to land. This orchid is found throughout tropical America. It is an epiphytic orchid (one that grows in trees). There are more than 30,000 species of orchids worldwide, many of which are grown as ornamental flowers.