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Cyrtosia septentrionalis
Akebian fruit orchid is a leafless, non-photosynthetic orchid that gets its nutrition from fungi living on decaying wood, so it cannot be grown like a normal plant. It is a wild species of East Asian woodland and is not cultivated as a garden or houseplant.
Cyrtosia septentrionalis is a species of plant in the family Orchidaceae. It is a achlorophyllous myco-heterotrophic species found in Japan, Korea, Ryukyu Islands, and China (Anhui, Henan, Hunan, and Zhejiang). It is a perennial plant that blooms in early summer, though can apparently enter prolonged dormancy for extended periods of time before reappearing and blooming again. it feeds on the wood decaying fungi armillaria, primarily armillaria gallica, and armillaria mellea.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Cyrtosia septentrionalis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
