Zeuxine strateumatica – Lawn Orchid

Zeuxine strateumatica growing in a lawn and living up to its common name, lawn orchid.

Zeuxine strateumatica is a small orchid native to tropical and warm-temperate regions of Asia. It is now well established elsewhere, including Puerto Rico, much of Florida, and parts of Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, and Texas. It readily grows in lawns and in landscaped areas covered with bark mulch. It appears to be naturally short-lived and is very difficult to transplant from the ground into a pot; however, if seed is gathered up when ripe in the spring and scattered among potted plants, a few lawn orchids will usually show up in the pots the following winter or spring.

Image and text © 2013 Rufino Osorio