Orchid Lifespans

[Bulbopedilum]

Just a general question, how long can a single orchid plant live?

To make it easier, I'll ask specifically for Monopodial orchids. It's hard to define "a single orchid plant" for sympodials.

By "a single orchid plant" I mean the plant itself, so offshoots or keikis aren't counted as being the "single orchid plant".

[MrHappyRotter]

It would vary from species to species, so really the question is overly broad.

It's also a topic for which there would be very little to no actual data -- meaning most of us would be relegated to guessing. Even if there's a way to accurately identify the age of 1 specific growth, it's not something that's being studied extensively enough (to the best of my knowledge) to have reliable information.

I think, at most, we might have a lower bound (i.e. for instance, if a specific plant has been in cultivation for 100 years, then we know that the species can live to be at least 100), but it's unlikely that there would be precise enough records to say that the same exact growth (sans pups, keikis) has lived that long except, perhaps, in a small number of very rare examples.

There are also aspects of scope and context that come into question. For instance, in theory, many orchids should be able to live for at least a century, but I suspect the practical answer is "they can live as long as they aren't killed by disease, pests, environmental change, natural disaster, loss of habitat, and things of that nature."

We know for sure that specific clones can live for 100+ years, but again, this does not account for the "specific growth" condition you've specified. There are also some species that people suspect have a lifespan of around a decade or two, at least in cultivation.

[estación seca]

But you do have to count offsets as the original plant. There's an Encephalartos altensteinii growing at Kew that was ancient when it was dug up in 1773 and placed into the greenhouse in 1775.

Cycads have a monopodial growth pattern. There are many offsets scattered all over the world of the single Encephalartos woodii plant ever found in the world. This one plant will probably survive as long as wealthy people enjoy it.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by estación seca

But you do have to count offsets as the original plant.

Well, you don't HAVE TO, but you should. Consider a monopodial orchid like a vanilla. It is a very viney plant, climbing and traversing the branches in the forest. If the "bottom" gets taken out by a falling limb or munching critter, the upper part grows and grows, potentially forever. The same is true of vandas. Before the "big freeze" that wiped out my collection in 1994, I had a phalaenopsis that I purchased in 1975, and was doing fine.

In the case of a sympodial plant, the rhizome may very well be considered to be the "vine", so that 1000th division of a division of a division... is still that original plant.