AboutOrchids

If you don’t live in the tropics, you may be surprised that this beautiful flower belongs to a pesky weed. If you live in a rainy area of the tropics, you probably recognize it. It’s Arundina, commonly known by its nickname “Bamboo Orchid.” The small plant in the 3rd photo shows the strong stems and pointy leaves that mimic bamboo with a flower on top.

Originally from Southeast Asia, the Bamboo Orchid has spread throughout the tropics, and even to subtropical areas like Florida. In Hawaii where these pictures were taken, it was intentionally introduced in the 1950’s to grow as cattle fodder. On the east side of the Big Island, we saw it growing in fields and forests, along roadsides, and even next to parking lots. It’s also one of the first plants to start growing on new lava fields. In fact, it’s such a prolific grower that Hawaiian locals use it as green filler for flower bouquets instead of ferns. There were buckets of the tall green plants at local farmers markets.

Bamboo orchids usually grow as terrestrials in soil, and can grow quite tall. We routinely saw 6 ft (1.8 m) plants, with some as tall as 10 ft (3 m.) The final picture shows a common sight along the roads near Hilo, with white and purple Arundina flowers sticking above the tall grasses. Call it a weed if you must, but at least it has a pretty flower.

Explore posts in the same categories: Orchids in the Wild, Photos, Warm Growers

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 4th, 2009 at 6:23 pm and is filed under Orchids in the Wild, Photos, Warm Growers.

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