Coelogyne mayeriana

Coelogyne mayeriana is the striking green-and-black orchid of the Southeast Asian lowlands, found across Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo and Thailand. Its flowers are unlike anything else in the genus: clear apple-green petals and sepals surrounding a lip veined and blotched in deep glossy black, carried a few at a time on upright spikes. Angular pseudobulbs spaced along a creeping rhizome give the plant an architectural look even out of bloom, and it can flower more than once a year in good conditions.

Care Guide

• Light: Moderate to bright indirect light, closer to shade than sun. Direct light bleaches the green colouring.
• Water: Keep evenly moist year round. Unlike its Himalayan cousins, this warm-growing species wants no dry winter rest, only a slight reduction when growth slows.
• Humidity: High, 60-80%, with constant gentle air movement.
• Temperature: Warm, 18-30°C (65-86°F). Keep it above 15°C (59°F).
• Growing medium: A shallow pot, basket, or mounted slab that gives the creeping rhizome room to wander. Use an open bark mix that drains fast and never sours.
• Feeding: Balanced orchid fertilizer at quarter to half strength with most waterings during active growth, flushing with clear water monthly.

For collectors drawn to the unusual, Coelogyne mayeriana is a conversation piece: warm-growing, steadily flowering, and carrying a colour combination almost no other orchid can offer. Give it warmth, humidity, and space to creep, and those jade-and-ink blooms will keep appearing.