Wild Orchid Found in Cameron Highlands

The rare flowering of a mountain “leafless orchid” has sparked excitement among a group of locals who spotted it in the Cameron Highlands jungle of Gunung Jasar, Tanah Rata.
Local environmentalist and or chid enthusiast , said it had been five years since they had seen the Aphyllorchis montana or chid blooming in the area.

Commonly known as the “leafless orchid”, the plant only reveals itself when it flowers, producing a 1.2m tall stem of butter-yellow or chids with brown specks.

“It is very difficult to find them because this mountain species usually flowers once every two or three years,”
“Even then it needs the right climatic conditions, like plenty of rain fall, before the orchid will flower.”
Since the first sighting of the plant in 2003, they and locals nature lovers had been looking out for it in Gunung Jasar.
They added that the leafless orchid happened to be near the same spot where they had sighted another rare flower, an unusually reddish Amor phophallus bufo, in May.
The group of locals are trying to get the authorities’ help to protect the jungle site so that it would not be developed in the future.

“The Aphyllorchis montana has beautiful flowers. Although it is called the leafless orchid, in truth it has leaves so tiny that people often mistake them for something else."
The orchid, was found only in Asian highland areas and fed on decaying organic matter. Its roots only go down some 15cm deep.