Species library › Anoectochilus › Anoectochilus formosanus
Orchids Well documented

Anoectochilus formosanus

A terrestrial jewel orchid of Taiwan, the southern Ryukyus and southeast China, with dark velvety leaves netted in gold. It is heavily wild-harvested as a medicinal herb. It needs deep shade, constant humidity and moving air, and is easiest in a terrarium.

Anoectochilus formosanus
Photo: Kuo-Chu Yueh, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day IntermediateTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Very humid airBand in Plantistry
Light Deep shadeDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
No rest periodGrows in the ground

Where it grows wild

On the floor of humid broadleaf forest, in leaf litter and moss on shaded slopes and ravines, mostly at low to middle elevations.

In Taiwan it is usually cited from low and mid-elevation forest; the measured sites are at 0–430 m.

TaiwanFujianRyukyu IslandsVietnam

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it
✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
✓ Substrate and airflow
✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

Grow Anoectochilus formosanus? Add it to a free garden and its full profile opens. Pro opens all 38,374 profiles in the library, plants and fungi.

Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its CC BY-SA 2.0 licence, unmodified.