Timbavati Reserve, Leopard Orchids

It’s not only about the Big 5 when you come and visit the bush. There is a very special plant you must she when you come and visit Shindzela…. The Leopard Orchid, Timbavati Reserve

Orchids are an ancient family of plants comprising of about 18000 species worldwide. The Leopard Orchid is the largest Orchid Plant of the 500 species found inSouthern Africaand gets its name from its delicately scented flowers, which are yellow in colour and dotted brown like a leopard’s coat.

It is thought that the Leopard Orchid grows in higher areas due to monkeys eating the seeds and sweet canes of the orchid and dispersing the seeds in the process.

The Zulu people also use the Leopard Orchid in a love charm ritual, whereby a desired partner can be caused to think of his or her partner by chewing the canes at midnight and then spit out the chewed up bits whilst saying the name of the desired person.

Some of the largest clusters can attain a good age of 100 years, Kruger National Park.

Monika Bydlinski