FNPS Plant Database
Bletia purpurea
Nomenclature
Common Name:
Synonym(s):
Genus species:
Family:
Orchidaceae
Plant Specifics
Form:
Size:
Life Span:
Long-lived perennial
Flower Color:
Fruit Color:
Phenology:
Noted For:
Landscaping
Recommended Uses:
Considerations:
Availability:
Propagation:
Light:
Moisture Tolerance:
Always Flooded---------------------------------Extremely Dry
□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□■■■■■■■■■■■■□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□
Usually moist, occasional inundation -to- Not wet but not extremely dry
Salt Water Flooding Tolerance:
Unknown
Salt Spray/Salty Soil Tolerance:
Low/no tolerance of salty wind or direct salt spray
Soil or Other Substrate:
Lime Rock, Organic
Soil pH:
Suitable to Grow In:
9B,10A,10B,11
USDA zones are based on the average annual extreme minimum winter temperature.
Don't know your zone? Click here to search by zip code.
Ecology
Wildlife:
The flowers do not produce nectar but use food deception to attract various bees including Euglossa, Thygater and Melipona , a genus of stingless bees. In Florida, some plants do not have a rostellum and may be self-pollinating.
Native Habitats:
Comments:
Ethnobotany:
General Comments:
Citations:
North American Orchid Conservation Center. (Undated). Go Orchids. ( https://goorchids.northamericanorchidcenter.org/species/bletia/purpurea/ ). Accessed 2025. Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD.
Osorio, Rufino. (2001). A Gardener's Guide to Florida's Native Plants. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.
Wunderlin, R. P., B. F. Hansen, A. R. Franck, and F. B. Essig. (1999+). Atlas of Florida Plants. ( https://florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/ ). [S. M. Landry and K. N. Campbell (application development), USF Water Institute.] Institute for Systematic Botany, University of South Florida, Tampa.
