''Spathoglottis plicata'', commonly known as the Philippine ground orchid, or large purple orchid is an evergreen, terrestrial plant with crowded

pseudobulb The pseudobulb is a storage organ found in many epiphytic and terrestrial sympodial orchids. It is derived from a thickening of the part of a stem between leaf nodes and may be composed of just one internode or several, termed heteroblastic and ...

s, three or four large,

pleated A pleat (plait in older English) is a type of fold formed by doubling fabric back upon itself and securing it in place. It is commonly used in clothing and upholstery to gather a wide piece of fabric to a narrower circumference. Pleats are cat ...

leaves and up to forty resupinate, pink to purple flowers. It is found from

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

and subtropical

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

to Australia and the western Pacific including Tonga and Samoa.

Description

''Spathoglottis plicata'' is an evergreen, terrestrial herb which forms tall clumps. It has crowded pseudobulbs long and wide, each with three or four pleated leaves long and wide on a stalk long. Up to forty deep pink to purple resupinate flowers long and wide are borne on a hairy flowering stem tall. The

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage * Dorsal co ...

sepal is long and the

lateral Lateral is a geometric term of location which may refer to: Healthcare *Lateral (anatomy), an anatomical direction *Lateral cricoarytenoid muscle *Lateral release (surgery), a surgical procedure on the side of a kneecap Phonetics *Lateral cons ...

sepals are slightly narrower. The petals are about the same length as the sepals but significantly wider. The labellum is 'T"-shaped, a similar size to the dorsal sepal and has three lobes with the side lobes close to vertical. At the tip of the

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

there is a cap, under which masses of yellow pollen grains can be seen. Flowering occurs from September to April in Australia and in most months in China and New Guinea. The fruit is a capsule about long, green and cylindrical. After the flower is fertilized, the seeds take about six weeks to develop. When ripe, the capsule splits open and thousands of tiny seeds are carried away by wind.

Taxonomy and naming

''Spathoglottis plicata'' was first formally described in 1825 by

Carl Ludwig Blume Charles Ludwig de Blume or Karl Ludwig von Blume (9 June 1796, Braunschweig – 3 February 1862, Leiden) was a German-Dutch botanist. He was born at Braunschweig in Germany, but studied at Leiden University and spent his professional life wor ...

who published the description in ''Bijdragen tot de flora van Nederlandsch Indië''. The specific epithet (''plicata'') is a Latin word meaning "folded".

Distribution and habitat

The large purple orchid is found in Taiwan, southern India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Guinea, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, Tonga and Samoa. In Australia it occurs from

Cooktown Cooktown is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia. Cooktown is at the mouth of the Endeavour River, on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland where James Cook beached his ship, the Endeavour, for rep ...

to the

Jardine River The Jardine River is the largest river of the Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland, Australia. Course The headwaters of the river rise southwest of Helby Hill in the Great Dividing Range and flow in a north westerly direction parallel t ...

Cape York Peninsula Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest unspoiled wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth’s last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación ...

. It grows in seasonally inundated and other moist areas, in sunny areas near swamps, seepages, and small streams. In Australia it flowers from September to April.

Conservation

''Spathoglottis plicata'' was previously listed as "vulnerable" under the

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 The ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and cultu ...

but was delisted in 2010.

Use in horticulture

''Spathoglottis plicata'' and its varieties have been cultivated and selected. The typical one has a bright purple flower. Some of them have mauve or pale mauve flowers. The rare pure white form is called ‘Penang White’. Due to its hardiness and fast growth, ''Spathoglottis plicata'' is cultivated and used in hybridizing with other mountain ''Spathoglottis'' that are difficult to grown in lowland to produce more interesting varieties. The first ''Spathoglottis'' hybrid was produced in 1932 by

Richard Eric Holttum Richard Eric Holttum (20 July 189518 September 1990) was an English botanist and writer. Early life Holttum was born 20 July 1895 in Cambridgeshire, England, to English store owners of Quaker faith. He was educated at Bootham School, York. He st ...

who crossed ''S. plicata'' with '' S. aurea'' and gave it the name ''Spathoglottis'' 'Primrose'. ‘Dwarf Legion’ is a hybrid of 'Primrose' and '' S. tomentosa'', a dwarf form that produces many colours of flower, from pink to yellow, and pure cream. ''Spathoglottis plicata'' needs to be grown in well-drained, well-aerated soil with the upper part of the ‘bulb’ above the ground level. Dilute manure water applied frequently is recommended. Image:LR072 72dpi Spathoglottis plicata.jpg, ''Spathoglottis plicata'' by Lewis Roberts Image:Spathoglottis plicata (Philippine ground orchid) capsule dehisced.jpg, ''Spathoglottis plicata'' capsule displaying dehiscence Image:Spathoglottis flwrs reduced.jpg, ''Spathoglottis plicata'' flowers and fruits at various stages of development Image:Spathoglottis Plicata.jpg, ''Spathoglottis plicata'' flower detail

Tissue culture

Micropropagation of ''Spathoglottis plicata'' Blume. and artificial seed production by alginate-encapsulation of PLBs was reported in 2017.Haque SM, Ghosh B (2017) Regeneration of cytologically stable plants through dedifferentiation, redifferentiation, and artificial seeds in Spathoglottis plicata Blume. (Orchidaceae). Horticultural Plant Journal, Volume 3, Issue 5, Pages 199-208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hpj.2017.10.002

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2212462 plicata Plants described in 1825 Terrestrial orchids Orchids of the Philippines Orchids of Queensland Orchids of the United States Flora of Hawaii Flora of Tonga Flora of Samoa