Japanese name: ナンバンカモメラン Scientific name:Macodes petola
[Overview]
An evergreen perennial 20–25 cm tall.
The stems creep along the ground and root at the nodes.
The leaves are simple and alternate in a rosette; they are ovate, about 6.5 cm long and 4 cm wide, thick, with a velvety texture and a silver net-like pattern along the veins.
There are leaf stalks.
A raceme at the stem tip bears about 15 brownish flowers, 1.5 cm across.
The flowers are inverted so that the lip is on the upper side.
The dorsal sepal and lateral sepals form a hood, and the base of the lip forms a sac-like spur with 2 cylindrical projections on the inner surface.
The column is strongly twisted, and its base is fused with the lip.
The flower stalk and flowers have glandular hairs.
[Cultivation]
Propagate by division.
Keep the temperature at a minimum of 15°C or higher; it prefers high humidity and shade throughout the year.
Direct sunlight causes leaf scorch.
Plant in an unglazed pot using well-drained materials such as leaf mold, bark, peat moss and sphagnum moss.
It prefers high humidity in the air but dislikes overly wet soil, so water when the surface of the planting material has dried.
It needs little fertilizer; in May–June, give diluted liquid fertilizer once a month in place of watering.
There are no particular pests or diseases.
