Eulophia graminea
Common Name(s): Chinese crown orchid
Non-Native to Florida
This species appears on the following legally prohibited plant lists
UF-IFAS Assessment of Non-Native Plants in Florida’s Natural Areas
CATEGORY I on the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council’s (FLEPPC) 2017 List of Invasive Plant Species
Eulophia graminea is a terrestrial orchid native to Asia that was first discovered in 2007 growing in mulched landscape in south Miami. Mature individuals have large pseudobulbs whereas smaller individuals can have smaller pseudobulbs and numerous root attachments, making them more difficult to extract. Leaves are narrow and flowers form in tall panicles and are green with brownish purple venation with a rose purple marking on the lip. The fruit is a capsule approximately 3 cm in length. Plants grow to a height of one meter.
Eulophia graminea forms a dense monoculture and has rapidly spread to thirteen counties in Florida. Although believed to have originally been spread by mulch, E. graminea is now found in rockland hammock and pine rockland habitats in the Florida Keys, and maritime hammock, pine flatwood, coastal strand, and cypress strand on the mainland. E. graminea has been found growing in rock, sand, mulch and bare earth.
Text by Janice Duquesnel (Janice.Duquesnel@dep.state.fl.us). Photos by Patricia Howell (phowell@broward.org).
Citation
From New Species for the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council’s 2013 List of Invasive Plant Species, Wildland Weeds, Spring 2014, Supplement 1—Online Only—www.fleppc.org