Ground Orchids
There are other plants in the genus but ive never heard of them in cultivation.
Ground orchids. Orchids bloom in spring and resemble corsage orchids. Ground orchids are orchids which grow in the soil rather than in the air like the epiphytic orchids with which many people are more familiar. Spathoglottis plicata commonly known as the philippine ground orchid or large purple orchid is an evergreen terrestrial plant with crowded pseudobulbs three or four large pleated leaves and up to forty resupinate pink to purple flowersit is found from tropical and subtropical asia to australia and the western pacific including tonga and samoa. Spathoglottis commonly known as purple orchids or bao she lan shu is a genus of about fifty species of orchids in the family orchidaceae.
They are evergreen terrestrial herbs with crowded pseudobulbs a small number of leaves and medium sized resupinate flowers on an upright flowering stem. Spathoglottis plicata or ground orchid native of southeastern asia to the philippines is the common species of orchid which blooms round the year. They are native to south eastern asia and the philippines and they do well in pots as well as flower beds. Ground orchid is a perennial orchid variety that grows in the soil.
This perennial plant grows on a tuberous rhizome and can be divided as the clump grows larger. The very flat knob like tuberous root system is typically sympodial expansive and each shoot is of annual duration only. This beautiful and hardy deciduous orchid has the distinction of being one of the first orchids in cultivation in england dating from around 1794 citation needed. Hence ground orchids are similar in growing habits to terrestrial flowering herbs.
Whereas their flowers and leaves resemble plants belonging to the orchidaceae family. Ground orchids flower year round and with the right conditions they grow for years. This will avoid the feast and famine routine of a regular feeding schedule and will give your plants the best amount of food to create regular blooms. Ground orchids are relatively heavy feeders and need regular fertilization.
The easiest way to accomplish this is by using a timed release orchid food and applying it every four to six months. Image courtesy of epen2c. Distributed under the creative commons attribution 20 generic license. The sepals and petals are all similar to each other and are white yellow pink or purple.
This easily grown terrestrial herb has pretty arching broad leaves with prominent parallel veins and a few or large cluster of small flowers at the end of a long stalk as tall as 1 metre arising from a basal leaf axil. They are plants that communicate their needs with several visual indicators so as long as you know what the signs are taking care of your ground orchid is simple. Spathoglottis plicata ground orchid spathoglottis plicata is a terrestrial orchid sometimes called the ground orchid. People who are interested in growing these orchids can find them at some nurseries and garden supply stores or they can order them from specialty growers.
A number of orchid species grow in the ground with bletilla striata and spathoglottis plicata being two popular ornamental cultivars. Contrary to this regular orchids are epiphytes meaning they absorb water and nutrients from air.