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Carrion orchid

Eulophia zollingeri

Carrion orchid
Photo: Vinayaraj, CC BY-SA 3.0
Family
Orchidaceae (Orchid family)
Grows as
Orchid
Native range
Trop. & Subtrop. Asia to Queensland
Climate
wet tropical

About

Eulophila zollingeri, commonly known as the carrion orchid or 无叶美冠兰 (wu ye mei guan lan), is a plant in the orchid family and is native to areas from tropical and subtropical Asia to Queensland, Australia. It is a leafless, brownish terrestrial orchid with up to forty reddish brown, sharply scented flowers with a dark red and yellow labellum. It grows in decaying wood in and near rainforests.

It is classified as a partial mycoheterotroph that maintains a specialized symbiotic relationship with the wood decaying fungi Psathyrellaceae throughout all life stages. Isotopic analysis and chlorophyll data have shown that the orchid also performs its own photosynthesis during the fruiting stage. Its leafless underground habit is typical of saprophytic orchids but it also can perform photosynthesis in its stems.

Where it grows

Eulophia zollingeri grows in and near the edges of rainforest where there is rotting wood. It occurs in China, Taiwan, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Guinea, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam and tropical northern Queensland.

Other Eulophia plants

Wild coco · Eulophia andamanensis · Green corduroy orchid · Sourveld Harlequin · Eulophia dabia · Eulophia dentata · Giant orchid · Sword Harlequin · Eulophia euglossa · Eulophia gracilis · Chinese Crown Orchid · Eulophia guineensis

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Eulophia zollingeri by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.

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.

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