കുണ്ടു കിഴങ്ങു Pecteilis gigantea

Malayalam :Kundukizhangu

(കുണ്ടു കിഴങ്ങു) 

श्वेत व्यालमुखी, वराहप्रिय

Pecteilis gigantea

Lady Susan's Orchid, Giant Pecteilis

A tall growing Ground orchid native to India and South East Asia. The Butterfly Orchid is so named because of its wing-like sepals and fringed lip lobes.

 The flowers have a pleasing fragrance. During the monsoon, the twin underground tubers, dormant till then, shoot out a robust green stem of flat leaves, bearing up to six flowers.

The home of this orchid is humus-rich marshy grasslands, margins of bamboo clump shelters and the muddy fringes of swamps in hilly areas throughout the country. Tubers are uprooted and eaten by wild boar.

photos from Ranipuram, Kasaragod

By Dr.Ajayan Sir