Cheirostylis nuda
Common name
There
is no known common name that I can find for this tiny little orchid, however the
orchid genus Cheirostylis to which C. nuda belongs are commonly known as fleshy
jewel orchids or velvet orchids
I can find little recorded about this tiny species of orchid.
Distribution and Habitat
In South Arica Cheirostylis nuda are found on the upper Kwa
Zulu-Natal coast north of Mtunzini growing in deep shade in leaf litter of damp
to wet dune forest.
Description
Cheirostylis nuda is a terrestrial herb with a creeping,
caterpillar-like, above-ground rhizome anchored to the leaf litter and ground
below by fine white root hairs.
The leaves and rhizome of
Cheirostylis nuda are a shiny green colour and are hairless. The flower
stems on the other hand are densely covered in tiny hairs. The flowers are very
small.
Flowering takes place in the late winter here in Kwa
Zulu-Natal, in mid-August into September.
Cultivation
I find Cheirostylis nuda very easy to grow indoors in both
plastic as well as clay pots in a coarse mixture of pure silica sand of various
sizes to which I add a little sphagnum peat.
They get watered daily for most of the year slightly
reducing watering at the beginning of autumn.
Feeding weekly applications of quarter strength liquid plant
feed. Sprinkling of Multicote™ on the surface of growing medium at the
beginning of first growth of growing season.
Article written by Michael Hickman on the
05.09.24
Please visit my websites at
https://www.hlem.co.za/indigenous_plants/plants.html
other blogs at
https://ecomandurban.blogspot.com/
https://luthulienvironment.blogspot.com/
https://emalangeniforest.blogspot.com/
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