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Orchidaceae
Chinese Ground Orchid
Bletilla striata
earthly refinement.
- Family
- Orchidaceae
- Genus
- Bletilla
- Native to
- China, Japan, Taiwan, Korea
- Bloom season
- Spring
- Type
- perennial herb
- Height
- 1-2 ft
- Sunlight
- part shade
- Soil
- moist, humus-rich, well-drained
- Water
- moderate
- Hardiness
- 5-9
- Lifespan
- perennial
Did you know
- Bletilla is one of the hardiest orchids, capable of surviving ground freezes down to -10°F when its pseudobulbs are mulched.
- Unlike most orchids, it grows terrestrially in the ground rather than as an epiphyte on trees, making it far easier to cultivate.
- In traditional Chinese medicine, its pseudobulbs are ground into a powder used to stop bleeding and promote skin healing — it remains a staple of Chinese pharmacopeias.
- The flowers closely resemble cattleya orchids but are produced on a neat arching stem from a small, coin-sized underground corm.
- It is named after Luis Blet, an 18th-century Spanish apothecary and botanist who cultivated plants at his pharmacy garden in Algeciras.
Color meanings
0
refinement
1
subtlety
2
strength through softness