NEWS103
8
Ludisiadiscolor
,habitusof a floweringplant.
Individual flower of a Jewel Orchid. All photos,unlessotherwise stated:FrankSchäfer
rchis
isancientGreekandmeansnone
other than “testicle”, as the
Orchis
species are terrestrial orchids, which, like
potatoes, have underground storage
organs. In the case of Orchis these are two
testicle-like tubers.
Terrestrialorchids
Themajorityofcultivatedorchidspeciesare
epiphytes,that is theygrowonotherplants.
Epiphytesgrowon treesor rocks.Hence the
roots of these orchids are not designed to
be permanentlymoist. If such an epiphytic
O
Withmore than 1,000 genera and – depending on the estimate – 15,000 to
30,000naturallyoccurringspecies,theorchids,togetherwiththedaisy family
(Asteraceae,formerlyCompositae),arethemostspecies-richplantfamilyamong
the floweringplants.Orchidsoccurworldwide.Thename“orchid”derives from
Orchis
,thenameofagenusof theseplants found incentralEurope.
Ludisiadiscolor -
–
a terrestrial orchid for the terrarium
bySarahNieten
orchid isplanted in totallynormal soil, then
the rootswill rotand theplantdie.
There are, however, also numerous orchids
that grow in the ground, including, for
example, all nativeEuropean species.These
are termed terrestrial orchids and
Ludisia
discolor
,the JewelOrchid, isoneof them.
AnAsianspecies
The homeland of the Jewel Orchid lies in
South-EastAsia,where itgrows inevergreen
forestsataltitudesofupto1,300meters.The
plantowes itspopularname to the fact that
in thediffuse lightof the forest its leavesare
said to sparkle as if set with jewels. The
northern extreme of its distribution is
southern China, and themajor part of the
habitat of the species canbe characterized
as tropical.Accordingly the temperature for
cultivation shouldbe around16-26 °Cwith
anatmospherichumidityofmorethan70%.
The substrate, which in this species can
consistofnormal,goodqualityhorticultural
compost, should always be slightly moist
but never permanently wet. RIDLEY also
found it growingon rocks in themiddleof
riverson the islandofTioman.
The flowering period of the Jewel Orchid
usually falls in our wintermonths. It seems
to be not somuch the amount of light as
cooler conditions that stimulate the
formation of flowers. However
Ludisia
discolor
is cultivated not so much for its
flowers, which are dainty but not very
striking compared to other orchids, but
more for itsattractive foliage.Theplant that
formed the basis of the original scientific
description had leaves that were uniform
dark green on the upper surface and red
underneath, as can be seen in the lovely
original drawing from 1818. KER-GRAWLER
originally described the species under the
name
Goodyera discolor
. The species is
Pflanzen
