Ludisia Discolor

Date posted: 23 November 2014

For some time Ludisia discolor has been part of the Botanic Gardens collection and currently there are specimens located in the Nursery at Mount Lofty Botanic Garden.

At the moment the plants have lots of flower spikes and are looking impressive. The team gets quite excited when this species flowers, however, its colourful leaves mean it looks attractive for most of the year.

Ludisia discolor -

• Ludisia discolor, commonly called the Jewel Orchid, has a number of synonyms and has undergone various botanical name changes over the years.
• It is a monotypic species, which means it is the only species occurring in the genera.
• The natural habitat of this species is South East Asia, it occurs in China, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and Burma.
• It predominately grows on the ground or on rocks, and can be found on the floor of shady forest environments.
• Unlike many orchid species the Ludisia discolor is grown for its foliage, which is deep red with decorative venations on the leaf.
• When flowering this species has flower spikes with many individual white blossoms.