Cremastra unguiculata

This woodland orchid from Japan is little known in western cultivation. It is very different to appendiculata but they are inexplicably confused on some websites.

C. unguiculata grows from tiny bulbs which grow linked together by a thin rhizome. The oldest of the bulbs is always soft proclaiming its close relationship with the American Puttyroot, Aplectrum.

The species has leaves, some 12cm long. These, standing quite stiffly upright. Each is delightfully marked and blotched with purplish and darker green patterns. The flowers appear in summer and have a white lip, surrounded by thin, tan petals banded with red-violet. They are lightly and pleasantly fragrant.

This likes a moisture-retentive but well-drained woodland type soil, in light shade and it loves humidity as well. It grows through the winter but being summer dormant (after flowering) it avoids the worst of summer heat and drought which is something you should try and replicate in cultivation.

Due to CITES permit costs of approx. £60 per item imposed by the UK Government these are not available for customers in Norway, Switzerland, USA, etc.