by Joseph Dougherty

Bletilla striata (Thumb.) Reichenb. f. 1878 Pronunciation: bleh-TEE-yastree-AH-ta Variant(s): there is a common alba variety Forma(s): plants with variegated foliage are occasionally cultivated Synonyms: Basionym: Limodorum striatum Thunb 1784 Bletia gebina [Lindley] Rchb.f 1847 Bletia hyacinthina [Willd.] R. Br. 1813 Bletia striata [Thunb] Druce 1917 Bletilla gebina [Lindley] Rchb.f. 1852-3 Bletilla hyacintha (Sm.) Rchb. f. 1878 Calanthe gebina Lodd. ex Lindl. 1855 Cymbidium hyacinthinum Sims 1812 Cymbidium hyacinthinum Sm. 1906 Cymbidium hyacinthinum [Thunb.] Swartz Cymbidium striatum [Thunb.] Sw. 1799 Epidendrum tuberosum Lour. 1763 Gyas humilis Salisb. 1812 Jimensia striatum [Thunb.] Garay & Schultes 1958 Common name(s): the Striped Bletilla, Bai Ji, the hyacinth orchid, Chinese ground orchid. In Japan this species is called shi-ran, meaning purple orchid. In China it is known as pai chi. Derivation: Genus name is the diminuitive of Bletila (a closely related genus) and means "little Bletia.' The species name means "striped," in reference to the very prominent crenulations of the labellum Plant: Terrestrial; stiffly upright plants bear several pleated lanceolate leaves. Underground corms give rise to stems that are about as wide and tall as a standard pencil. Leaves: This species generally has four to six leaves per shoot and grows to less than fifty centimeters tall. Most plants reach about 30 cm (12 inches). Each leaf has a basal portion, the leaf sheath, that encircles the one-centimeter-thick stem. The first leaf of each shoot never forms a recognizable leaf blade, and the second leaf has a small elliptic blade. The dominant leaf form is oblong-lanceolate with an acuminate (pointed) tip. Typically, this blade may grow to twenty or thirty centimeters in length and up to 5.5 centimeters wide. Leaf arrangement is alternate distichous (arranged in two vertical rows). Arising from the shoot apex is an unbranched terminal inflorescence of six to ten (or twelve) flowers, a spike-like raceme with essentially no pedicels on which the lowest flower is the oldest and the uppermost the youngest. See below for more information about growth habit. Flowers: See illustrations. Flowers open successively, typically with 3 or 4 open at a time, and each spike stays in bloom for over a month. Inflorescence: upright, 8-20 cm in height, bearing 6 to 12 medium sized (4-6 cm) Cattleya-shaped flowers; blooms are usually pale pink to deep fuschia (an alba variant also exists in cultivation), with similar petals and sepals; the lip has several undulating, ruffled furrows that may or may not differ slightly in color from the rest of the flower In addition to the wild lavender form, an alba form is also cultivated. Culture: Can be grown in a pot or planted in the garden. Provide bright light (dappled shade; can tolerate full sun in morning and late afternoon) and plenty of air movement; give ample water while growing, but let dry between waterings; must be in well-draining soil (an organically rich mixture with lots of pebbles or sand is best). Tolerates a wide range of temperatures during the growing season, but must experience a winter vernalizing in order to bloom. Plant the corm-like pseudobulbs up to 4” deep in spring. After flowering, continue to provide regular moisture to plants for the remainder of the growing season. Will naturalize over time, in optimum growing conditions, by short rhizomes and seed dispersal. Fully winter hardy in USDA Zones 6 and higher. May not be reliably winter hardy throughout USDA Zone 5 if no cover is provided, so a winter mulch is advisable in Zone 5 and lower. No serious insect or disease problems. Slugs and snails are occasional visitors. Fragrant: Yes, but not powerfully so Bloomtimes: Late spring to summer Habitat: Terrestrial; on grassy slopes of foothills, usually with sandy soils Distribution: E. Tibet, China, and Japan (including Okinawa) Anthropological Uses: In many areas of the world, this terrestrial orchid, Bletilla striata, has been cultivated as a medicinal plant. In Vietnam, for example, the corm (an underground pseudobulb) is used to treat tuberculosis and other pulmonary diseases, as well as to relieve pain from burns. An as-yet unidentified compound in the corm promotes clotting of the blood.     Additional Information about this species: Bletilla, as you might imagine, is a diminutive of Bletia, a New World genus of terrestrial orchids to which certain species of Bletilla bear a resemblance. The specific epithet refers to the plicate (shallowly pleated) leaves, which are striate (marked with parallel bands or lines) and have light-colored veins alternating with green tissue. Striate could also be used to describe the variegated leaves of certain cultivars that have alternating strips of white and green. Shi-ran is an orchid species that generally has four to six leaves per shoot and grows to less than fifty centimeters tall. The shoot of B. striata is determinate, living for only one growing season and then dying back to ground level. Some books refer to this type of orchid as a deciduous orchid, but a more accurate term would be herbaceous perennial or geophyte. Geophyte in particular would be a good descriptor of B. striata, because it grows via short rhizomes from which it forms a larger, white, horizontally compressed corm(a pseudobulb). Fibrous adventitious roots arise from all sides of the corm, along with new shoots that are connected by the short, cylindrical rhizomes. Anybody familiar with corsage orchids (Cattleyas) would have no difficulty recognizing that Bletilla is also an orchid, even though its flowers are typically less than five centimeters across. Flowers are lax, somewhat nodding, and resupinate (twisted somewhat from horizontal). The lip (also called the labellum), when viewed from the side looks like a light-lavender luge with three violet lobes. Inside this highly modified petal, the floor of the lip bears five parallel, frilled white ridges. Important sexual parts of the flower--the style with two stigma lobes and one anther--form a column that overarches the lip. Orchids have intricate mechanisms for pollination. An animal visitor is needed to transport pollen from the anther of one flower to a stigma lobe of the next. Pollen grains in Orchidaceae are not separate but instead form a large mass, called a pollinium, that must be deposited on a receptive stigma. Bletilla striata has four pollinia per anther, and in this genus the pollinia are described as being soft and mealy, unlike the hard pollinia found in most genera. Its lightly scented flowers are likely pollinated by bees, and outdoor plants often set seed pods. Orchids require many pollen grains to be transported at once because the inferior ovary contains thousands of ovules to be fertilized. Each fertilized ovule becomes a seed, here barely larger than a speck of dust. In fact, orchids were once called the Microspermae, because they have so-called "micro seeds." So small are these seeds that the embryo also is incredibly tiny. Typically, orchids do not even have a cotyledon on the embryo; neither do they form a radicle (root) or leaves. Thus, when the fruit (the seed pod, or capsule) dries and splits open, the incredibly light seeds of this family can be carried long distances by the wind. For an orchid seed to germinate and become established, a helpful mycorrhizal fungus must infect the embryo, invading cells and assisting the plant in absorbing nutrients. Bletilla striata is of especial interest in having an embryo with a rudimentary, vascularized cotyledon -- it is one of only ten species (among the close to 30,000 orchid species) that has this characteristic! Moreover, most orchids totally lack endosperm next to the embryo, but in Bletilla some endospermal cells persist within the seed. Bletilla striata also has an interesting capsule that splits open along six lines of weakness. Bletilla is a genus of nine or ten species that tend to grow well in partial shade to nearly full sun, as in a woodland setting or grassy hillside, and prosper in moderate to warm temperate climates. Actually, most of the world's orchid species occur in the wet tropics, and nearly two-thirds of the known species are epiphytes in wet tropical forests.   back to top

Last Modified: October 22, 2002 by Joseph Dougherty All images on this site are copyrighted by the original photographer. Please be considerate and do not use these images without the photographer's prior permission. We welcome your contributions of images and cultural information. Contact me at josephd@ecology.org to contribute your images of alternate color forms, foliage variations, cultural tips, etc. We'll be happy to share them with the orchid community via this site and give you the credit, along with a link to your website if applicable.   Copyright © 1989-2002. All rights reserved. Send questions or comments to Joseph Dougherty