|Bletilla subsp. var.|
Bletilla is a temperate, terrestrial genus of orchids containing 9 species distributed through China, Japan and Taiwan and Vietnam. The name is actually a diminutive of Bletia because of the resemblance between the two genera even though Bletia is a New World genus. The genera Jimensia Raf. and Polytoma Lour. ex Gomes are generally included into Bletilla. This genus is abbreviated Ble in trade journals.
The pseudobulbs resemble spreading corms which usually sit at ground level. Each pseudobulb generally bears several pleated leaves around 40cm long. The racemes of flowers emerge from the center of the years new growth before it is mature, during spring and early summer. The flowers vary in colour from white to purple, and all species have four pollinia. The tubers resemble a horn or claw. They are grayish-white or yellowish-white in appearance, with concentric rings and brown rootlets. They have a hard texture and do not break easily.
Bletilla species are generally hardy, though some need protection from severe frost. It is better to keep them in pots of well drained media so that water does not sit around the roots during winter when the plants are not actively growing. They should also be watered sparingly at the start of the growing season as the new shoots emerge, as new roots often do not follow for around four weeks afterwards.
Bletilla striata is the most common form found in the nursery trade and is often labeled simply as 'Hardy Orchid' or 'Chinese Ground Orchid' and is quite inexpensive.
|Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture|
Bletilla (diminutive of Bletia). Orchidaceae. Terrestrial orchids with pseudobulbs, and a leafy at. with a terminal infl.: sepals and petals nearly alike, somewhat spreading; lip 3-lobed, furnished with lamellae, the lateral lobes surrounding the slender column; pollinia 8.—Outdoor orchids.
Pests and diseases
List of species:
- Bletilla chartacea
- Bletilla cotoensis
- Bletilla foliosa
- Bletilla japonica
- Bletilla morrisonicola
- Bletilla ochracea
- Bletilla scopulorum
- Bletilla sinensis
- Bletilla striata
- Bletilla szetschuanica
- Bletilla yunnanensis
- Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963