LHG members have been taking photos of interesting things in their gardens to share in the ‘Through the Garden Gate’ feature. Linda Chambers sent a photo of a little unidentified white orchid she found growing in her garden.

This reminded me that we found this same orchid growing in our garden in 1988, shortly after we moved here. As I was volunteering at Mercer Botanic Gardens at the time, I asked then director, John Koros and botanist, Steve Young to identify it. They took the plant to Dr. Larry Brown, an eminent botanist and recognized authority of local flora. Dr. Brown identified it as Zeuxine strateumatica. It was reported as the first sighting of this orchid in Texas. It was officially recorded in the botanical journals. ‘Brown and Gandhi (1989) reported it from Kingwood in Montgomery County ( but this was an error, since Kingwood is in Harris County.)

Since this time I have personally observed it in many other sites around our area.

So, I thought that you might like to meet the lawn orchid, Zeuxine strateumatica. Originally native to Asia, this species is expanding its range throughout many parts of the globe. It was first discovered in Dade County, Florida in 1936.

There was a bit of confusion surrounding its origin on this continent, but it is now believed that seeds arrived in a shipment of centipedegrass from China. It’s probably spreading in various nursery plants, evidently germinating and growing well from seed. It has been suggested that lawn orchid reproduces by self-pollination or by non-sexual means.

This little plant blooms anywhere from October to April, but typically around here, in January to February. Typically it is under 6 inches in height, growing in sun to mostly shade. Leaves appear green in the shade but are bronze when growing in full sun. The narrow leaves are spirally arranged on the stem that terminates in a bloom spike with numerous small white flowers with a bright yellow labellum. It can grow in lawns, shrub borders, roadsides, farm fields, and occasionally in woods

Since its premiere in Florida, the lawn orchid has since spread to Georgia, Alabama, Texas and other places. It seems to be quite tenacious, growing equally as well in lawns, floodplains, forests, meadows, and even sidewalk cracks! Despite this generalist habit, it does not seem to transplant well

and is probably quite specific about its mycorrhizal partner. It’s still a bit of a mystery as to exactly why this little orchid has been able to spread so far outside of its native range.

Though small insects will visit the flowers, it is very likely that this orchid mostly self pollinates. It doesn’t take long to flower and set seed. One plant can easily result in hundreds if not thousands of seedlings. After setting seed, the parent plant dies, however, it will often bud off new plantlets from its roots. Its ubiquitous nature can often stand in contrast to its ability to disappear for a series of time. Large stands that appear one year may not return for many years after. In some areas this little orchid is abundant enough to be considered a nuisance.

I’ve always had a fascination with orchids, so despite whatever feelings there might exist towards this little plant, I like it nonetheless. Its not often you find orchids so adaptable to a wide variety of conditions. At the very least it offers us insights into the success of plant invasions around the globe. And, in the end, its a pretty looking little plant!