Bletilla striata
Type: Bulb
Height: 1.00 to 1.50 feet
Spread: 0.50 to 1.00 feet
Bloom Time: April to May
Bloom Description: Pinkish-purple
Sun: Part shade
Water: Medium
Flower: Showy
Best grown in organically rich, medium moisture, well-drained soil in part shade. Plant corm-like pseudobulbs to 4” deep in spring. After flowering, continue to provide regular moisture to plants for the remainder of the growing season. Will naturalize over time in optimum growing conditions by short rhizomes.
Bletilla striata, commonly called Chinese ground orchid, is a terrestrial orchid which produces small, cattleya-like, pinkish-purple flowers (to 1.5” long) in 3-7 flowered racemes atop naked scapes typically rising to 18” tall. Blooms mid to late spring. Each pseudobulb typically produces 3-5, linear, pleated, papery-textured, sword-shaped, pale green leaves (to 12” long). Foliage dies to the ground in winter. Synonymous with Bletilla hyacinthina.
Genus name honors Luis Blet, a Spanish apothecary who had a botanic garden in Algeciras towards the end of the 18th century.
Specific epithet means striped.
No serious insect or disease problems. Slugs and snails are occasional visitors.
Bletilla striata
Type: Bulb
Height: 1.00 to 1.50 feet
Spread: 0.50 to 1.00 feet
Bloom Time: April to May
Bloom Description: Pinkish-purple
Sun: Part shade
Water: Medium
Flower: Showy
Best grown in organically rich, medium moisture, well-drained soil in part shade. Plant corm-like pseudobulbs to 4” deep in spring. After flowering, continue to provide regular moisture to plants for the remainder of the growing season. Will naturalize over time in optimum growing conditions by short rhizomes.
Bletilla striata, commonly called Chinese ground orchid, is a terrestrial orchid which produces small, cattleya-like, pinkish-purple flowers (to 1.5” long) in 3-7 flowered racemes atop naked scapes typically rising to 18” tall. Blooms mid to late spring. Each pseudobulb typically produces 3-5, linear, pleated, papery-textured, sword-shaped, pale green leaves (to 12” long). Foliage dies to the ground in winter. Synonymous with Bletilla hyacinthina.
Genus name honors Luis Blet, a Spanish apothecary who had a botanic garden in Algeciras towards the end of the 18th century.
Specific epithet means striped.
No serious insect or disease problems. Slugs and snails are occasional visitors.
