Calanthe sieboldii in habitat

[KyushuCalanthe]

Yesterday I got on the bike and rode to an area of mountains to the north of my house in search of Calanthe sieboldii, the yellow flowered Calanthe. It has become very rare in most of Japan these days from over collection and habitat alteration. See a lot of other flora native to the low mountains here as well in this video - wildflowers, ferns, and trees.

Calanthe sieboldii hunt

 

[s1214215]

Nice.. I like it Tom. Sad its so rare now.

 

[monocotman]

Beautiful.
David

 

[Clark]

Looks like one has to work their butt off, to get a glimpse of this beauty.
Another fine video Tom!

 

[biothanasis]

great vid Tom!!!!!!! Enjoyable as always... your comments too

 

[Dido]

great pic thanks for sharing

 

[Rick]

Very cool video Tom.

Thanks!

After growing Calanthes vestista , which blooms from leafless bulbs, its odd to see a different Calanthes species blooming with new leaves. Does sieboldi leave big above ground pseudo bulbs?

 

[Migrant13]

Hey thank you for sharing that excellent slice of Japanese botany.

 

[Ozpaph]

that's lovely.

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

Glad everyone enjoyed the vid.

After growing Calanthes vestista , which blooms from leafless bulbs, its odd to see a different Calanthes species blooming with new leaves. Does sieboldi leave big above ground pseudo bulbs?

Totally different group of Calanthe Rick - the deciduous ones belong to the subgenus Eucalanthe and the evergreen species to Preptanthe. The second group is evergreen with high reduced pseudobulbs arranged along the rhizome, usually below ground level. In my opinion, they are distinct genera, with C. sieboldii being in the second group.

Looks like one has to work their butt off, to get a glimpse of this beauty.
Another fine video Tom!

Clark, it is difficult to find wild orchids in my area anymore. Just 30 or 40 years ago there were many more around - a hundred years ago it was probably beyond belief. I've heard that the local mountains were filled with stands of plants numbering in the thousands - all collected now. To find anything you have to go up to the most treacherous places in the high, unstable slopes and there you find the remnants, literally clinging on for dear life, as I was taking these vids/photos!

 

[gonewild]

Yes I did enjoy today's video!
The woodland ginger plant is beautiful.

 

[SlipperFan]

Don't tell anyone where it is!