Eulophia friderici belongs to the plant family Orchidaceae subfamily
Epidendroideae, tribe Cymbidieae, subtribe Eulophiinae. I have also for the
spelling of the name Eulophia fridericii.
Eulophia friderici is poorly represented in herbaria and literature;
very little information is available on this species here in South Africa. The
specimen I have grown my plants from came from the Makhathini Flats in the far
north of KwaZulu-Natal
The native range
The native range of Eulophia friderici is recorded as being
Tanzania to Mpumalanga. It is a pseudobulbous geophyte and grows primarily in
the seasonally dry tropical biome.
Another reference gave the following, Angola, Caprivi Strip,
Malawi, Mozambique, Northern Provinces, Tanzania, Zambia, Zaïre, Zimbabwe and
South Africa.
Primary Habitat
Eulophia friderici grows in semi shade in mixed deciduous
and Brachystegia woodland, where it is often found growing on rocky hillsides.
Description
Terrestrial herb, 35-85 cm tall. Pseudobulbs often partly
above ground, conical, up to 40 × 17 mm, forming chains. Leaves 3-5, the
lowermost sheathing, ovate-elliptic, up to 14 × 5.5 cm, bright green, plicate'
appearing just at the time of flowering.
Cultivation
I have had great success growing Eulophia friderici in pure
quartz sand in clay pots indoors both under artificial lighting and where it
gets natural filtered sunlight for part of the day.
My plants remain vegetative throughout the year making new growths and flowers while the previous years leaves are still green and healthy.
Feeding
Feeding is done weekly with Nitrosol, Marinure, or Seagro at the rate of 2.5
ml per 5 liters of chlorinated tap water. The feeding is reduced in dilution and frequency during the winter months.
Pests and diseases
Once a quarter they are treated with Efekto Insecticide granules to guard against scale, mealie bug and red spider. once per week they are sprayed with the fungicides Benlate, Mancozeb and Orios in rotation,
Article written by Michael Hickman on the
30.10.25
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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