Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Corybas (helmet orchids) emerging from “hibernation”?

 

corybas helmet orchids borneo

Here they are... re-emerging after a long, hot and dry season. with the rains starting to fall again, these little corybas or helmet orchids are beginning to put out new shoots from the tiny tubers buried in the carpet of moss.

Each tuber appears to put out only one single leaf from which a flower will appear. From my observation over the years, it appears that during the dry season, they disappear from sight, dropping their leaves till the next monsoon arrives.

Fascinating to see them "carpet" the ground one season, then disappear the next, only to reappear again the following rainy season.

However, there will always be a few who didn't get the memo so it's not surprising to see one or two during the hottest months, albeit in bad shape.

Stay tuned for photos of early flowers…

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