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Dendrophylax lindenii
Also called Palmpolly
The ghost orchid is a rare epiphytic orchid native to southwest Florida and Cuba, growing on tree bark and branches. It thrives only in very humid, still-air conditions, such as a terrarium or Wardian case, and needs low-salt water.
Dendrophylax lindenii, the ghost orchid (a common name also used for Epipogium aphyllum), is a rare perennial epiphyte from the orchid family (Orchidaceae). It is native to Florida and Cuba. Other common names include palm polly and white frog orchid.
Plants can be successfully grown in a terrarium-like environment, mounted bare-root on a decay-resistant, untreated wooden stock with the wood laid horizontally on top of a bed of living sphagnum moss, as the plants require high humidity and stagnant air, or, in a Wardian case or greenhouse which approximates these conditions. They have also been noted thriving with hickory wood over a century old. Plants should not be allowed to pollinate and set seed unless the plant is very large, at least 250 mm (10 in) across, as plants without sufficient biomass will transfer all of their stored reserves into making a very large seed pod, and then behave much like an annual and die after seed set. These plants should be given 1⁄4-strength fertilizer in distilled or other low-salt water sources weekly.
The plants are intolerant of water with high levels of dissolved salts; this will result in the roots dying off from the tips. Continued exposure to chlorinated tap water will usually kill these plants, with the tips of the roots yellowing and rapidly dying back to the reduced stem.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Dendrophylax lindenii 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.
