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Gastrodia agnicellus is a leafless, mycotrophic orchid from the forests of southeast Madagascar, living on fungal partners in the shade under leaf litter. It is not a plant suited to home cultivation and is known mainly from botanical study.
Gastrodia agnicellus is a species of orchid in the genus Gastrodia, found in Madagascar and described in Curtis's Botanical Magazine by Johan Hermans in 2020. It has been said to be "the ugliest orchid in the world", with "brown, fleshy and grotesque" flowers. Like all species in its genus, it is leafless and mycotrophic.
The species name agnicellus means "little lamb" or "lambkin". The name "refers to the woolly covering on the rhizome, the ear-like petals and also alludes to the name of the botanical artist who brought the new species to life in her drawing." For her work on this species the illustrator, Deborah Lambkin, won the 2020 Margaret Flockton Award, an annual award "for excellence in scientific botanical illustration" made by the Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney.
Gastrodia agnicellus has only been found in the Vatovavy-Fitovinany region in the southeast of Madagascar. It lives in the shade in the forests of Madagascar, often under leaf litter and humus.
Gastrodia africana · Gastrodia amamiana · Cooper's black potato orchid · Dense potato orchid · Potato orchid · Tall Gastrodia · Brindabella potato orchid · Gastrodia gunatillekeorum · Gastrodia javanica · Gastrodia kuroshimensis · Western Potato Orchid · Gastrodia molloyi
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Gastrodia agnicellus 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.
