Cymbidium suave
snake orchid
Family OrchidaceaeAlso called grassy boat-lip orchid
About
Snake orchid is an eastern Australian epiphyte that forms long-lived clumps of grass-like leaves, usually in hollows of old or fallen trees. It is the only one of Australia's three Cymbidium species without prominent pseudobulbs.
Field notes
Morphology
Stems 300–500 mm long are sheathed in overlapping leaf bases and carry four to eight strap-shaped leaves 300–450 mm long. Often arching stems 100–300 mm long hold 5–50 strongly scented, olive to dark or brownish-green flowers 23–35 mm long.
Distribution & habitat
Woodland and forest between Cooktown in Queensland and Bega in New South Wales, inland to Tamworth, usually in hollows of old trees or in fallen, decaying trunks.
History & etymology
Robert Brown described it in 1810 in Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae. The epithet suave is Latin for sweet.
Habitat
- Altitude
- Not recorded
- Altitude class
- —
- Native to
- Australia
Cultivation
- Difficulty
- Not recorded
Text adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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