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Small onion orchid

Microtis oligantha

Small onion orchid
Photo: Christopher Stephens, CC BY-SA 4.0

Microtis oligantha, the small onion orchid, is a tiny terrestrial orchid endemic to New Zealand, growing from an underground tuber with a single hollow, onion-like leaf. It thrives in damp grassland and meadows, so keep the soil consistently moist during the growing season.

Family
Orchidaceae (Orchid family)
Grows as
Orchid
Light
Part shade
Water
Keep the soil consistently moist during the growing season and let it dry slightly while dormant.
Soil
Moist, humus-rich, free-draining soil or grassland-type mix.
Temperature
Cool-temperate; tolerates cold montane and subalpine conditions, protect from prolonged heat.
How easy
Hard
Native range
New Zealand North I.
Climate
temperate

About

Microtis oligantha, the small onion orchid is a species of orchid endemic to New Zealand. It has a single thin, hollow, onion-like leaf and up to ten small green flowers. It differs from the other two onion orchids in New Zealand, (M. unifolia and M. parviflora) in being a much smaller plant with a more pointed dorsal sepal.

Where it grows

The small onion orchid grows in damp grassland and meadows in montane and subalpine parts of both the North, South and Chatham Islands.

Other Microtis plants

White mignonette orchid · Scented mignonette orchid · Mona Vale onion orchid · Notched onion orchid · Swamp mignonette orchid · Sweet mignonette orchid · Cupped mignonette orchid · Slender mignonette orchid · Desert mignonette orchid · Coastal mignonette orchid · Globular mignonette orchid · Granite mignonette orchid

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Microtis oligantha 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.

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