Microtis unifolia
| Microtis unifolia | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |  |
| Hardiness: | 9 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-8.4 |
| Height: | 2' |
| Blooms: | Mid Fall-Mid Winter |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Microtis unifolia (common name: onion-leaf orchis)
Propagation: Seed - surface sow, preferably as soon as it is ripe, in the greenhouse and do not allow the compost to dry out. The seed of this species is extremely simple, it has a minute embryo surrounded by a single layer of protective cells. It contains very little food reserves and depends upon a symbiotic relationship with a species of soil-dwelling fungus. The fungal hyphae invade the seed and enter the cells of the embryo. The orchid soon begins to digest the fungal tissue and this acts as a food supply for the plant until it is able to obtain nutrients from decaying material in the soil[1]. It is best to use some of the soil that is growing around established plants in order to introduce the fungus, or to sow the seed around a plant of the same species and allow the seedlings to grow on until they are large enough to move.
Cultivation: We have very little information on this species. It is a terrestrial orchid that can tolerate light frosts and so could possibly be grown outdoors in the mildest parts of Britain, but its late autumn flowering habit might make it more suited to the greenhouse.
The flowers have a powerful if sickly scent[2].
Orchids are, in general, shallow-rooting plants of well-drained low-fertility soils. Their symbiotic relationship with a fungus in the soil allows them to obtain sufficient nutrients and be able to compete successfully with other plants. They are very sensitive to the addition of fertilizers or fungicides since these can harm the symbiotic fungus and thus kill the orchid[3].
Range: E.Asia to Australasia from China, Indonesia and the Phillipines to Australia and New Zealand.
Habitat: Open places such as on banks and in poor pastures in North, South, Stewart and Chatham Islands[4].
Edibility: Root[5][6][7][8]. No more details are given.
Pollinators: Insects
Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Also Known As: M. porrifolia. R.Br.
Links
References
- ↑ Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ Genders, Roy. Scented Flora of the World. Robert Hale, 1994.
- ↑ Cribb, Phillip and Christopher Bailes. Hardy Orchids. Christopher Helm, 1989.
- ↑ Allan, Harry. Flora of New Zealand. Government Printer Publications, 1961.
- ↑ Uphof, Johannes. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim, 1959.
- ↑ Usher, George. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable, 1974.
- ↑ Brooker, Stanley. Economic Native Plants of New Zealand. Oxford University Press, 1991.
- ↑ Crowe, Andrew. Native Edible Plants of New Zealand. Hodder and Stoughton, 1990.