Rhynchostylis retusa


Rhynchostylis retusa is an orchid belonging to the Vanda alliance. The inflorescence is a pendant raceme, consisting of more than 100 pink-spotted white flowers. The plant has a short, stout, creeping stem carrying up to 12, curved, fleshy, deeply channeled, keeled, retuse apically leaves and blooms on an axillary pendant to long, racemose, densely flowered, cylindrical inflorescence that occurs in the winter and early spring.

Distribution

The plant is an epiphyte growing on tree trunks in open forests or at forest margins at elevations of. It can be found in Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam.
In India, the plant is most common in the Northeast, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. In Andhra Pradesh, the plant is called by Telugu name Chintaranamu. Due to bio-piracy, the plant is on the verge of extinction in India. Rhynchostylis retusa is recognized as the state flower of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam in India, as well as the provincial flower of Uva Province in Sri Lanka.

Care

The plant requires regular watering and applications of fertilizer throughout the year, although it will die if the leaves are wet frequently. It prefers indirect light. Flowering usually occurs in late spring.

Medicinal uses

In Malabar District various preparations of the plant were used against asthma and tuberculosis and for 'nervous twitchings', cramp, epileptic spasms, vertigo, palpitations, kidney stone and menstrual disorder. The plant has also been used in Assam to treat wounds, cuts and bruises. The plant has been used as an emollient in India and Nepal. Under the name of rasna the root is used to treat rheumatism throughout the Indian subcontinent.

Significance in Assamese culture

The species is the state flower of Assam, where it is popularly known as, and is an integral part of a Bihu dancer's attire. The plant is considered to be a symbol of love, fertility and merriment, and is popular in Assamese wedding ceremonies.