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Plant of the Day

Saturday 1 June 2024

In the cool glasshouse of the David Welch Winter Gardens at Duthie Park, Aberdeen, Arthropodium cirratum 'Matapouri Bay' (rock lily) was flowering. This is a clump-forming, evergreen perennial tolerant of dry sites once established but is not reliably hardy.

Jill Raggett

#Arthropodium #rock lily #white flowers #evergreen #perennial #tender #plants #horticulture #glasshouse #cool glasshouse #frost free #aberdeen

Dendrobium speciosum, Orchidaceae

The king orchid, also known as rock lily, is native to eastern Australia, where it is widespread over an area large enough to have allowed internal differentiation into a few varieties. It is probably one of the hardiest orchids, able to withstand temperatures ranging from near-frost to scorching-Australian-summer and bloom profusely when gradually established in full sun.

It is also one of the orchids which grow into some of the largest aggregates. It is found as an epiphyte on both trees and exposed rocks or rocky slopes, and especially as a lithophyte it seems to grow in very large clumps, with its roots covered by ferns and other moisture-loving plants.

It is grown outdoors, and can do well, in areas that enjoy a drier, warmer Mediterranean climate, not necessarily needing the same harsh conditions of some parts of Australia. When a container, or the plant itself, is placed in the right spot, it can still grow quite large, as it would in its habitat, so keep in mind the plants you place around it!

-photos from Glasgow Botanic Gardens