Disa bracteata or the South African Weed Orchid

Disa bracteata or the South African Weed Orchid is an introduced environmental weed about 30cm tall from South Africa that only arrived in Victoria in 1994 and has started to spread in the Otways. Like all orchids, it produces dust-like seeds that are so tiny they can be carried vast distances by the wind, aiding its invasive spread, but unlike most orchids it is self-pollinating and doesn’t rely on insects. It has an underground tuber that makes it difficult to pull out and rapidly outcompetes native vegetation, including native orchids, by forming dense colonies. Disa comes from a character in Norse mythology often associated with beauty and mysticism, which aligns with the elegant and often intricate nature of orchids. Bracteata is derived from the Latin word “bractea,” meaning thin plate or bract which refers to the plant’s prominent bracts (small, leaf-like structures located beneath its flowers). If you have Weed Orchid on your property, please remove them or get in touch with your local Landcare group to get help. If you see it in the bush or elsewhere, please pull it out and/or record it on iNaturalist so we know where to find it. If you’d like to replace it with something similar, the Shrub Club Community Nursery has just started growing native orchids which should be available soon or if you’d like to learn more about environmental weeds SOLN (Southern Otway Landcare Network) runs a weekly plant walk over the summer season usually leaving from the office at 69 Nelson St at 2:30pm on the first Tuesday.