Plant ID wanted-- little information

[Darren Garrison]

A friend in Tokyo recently sent me a batch of seeds, and included a few bulblets from a plant at first he called a lily, but then said he doesn't know the name of. The bulblets are green, about the size of a dime, and it is hard to tell the top from the bottom. He told me to plant them on the surface of moist soil, but not push them in or cover them. He sent this photo of the mother plant, with various sizes of smaller plants around it, including some of the green bulblets.

ideas?

[Janet Baraclough]

The message from Darren Garrison contains these words:

Looks like some kind of tropical orchid. Does he grow it indoors or out?

Janet.

[Darren Garrison]

Outside. He told me:

"The bulblets might do best in a pot that can be shaded during the hot part of the day and during winter bring indoors or on the porch; they survive Tokyo winters..."

[Kay Lancaster]

You did have the proper import permits for this, right? And your friend had the export permits?

Kay

[Darren Garrison]

No. Should I need them? For a houseplant? Didn't have them for the Ginkgo, Yuzu, or Persimmon seeds he sent either. Or one other Japanese plant he sent, I think he called it "kudzu"? I didn't need those, so I just sprinkled them around in the woods.

[Kay Lancaster]

Yes, you do need them. And a CITES permit, too, if it's an orchid. The regulations are there to help prevent accidental import of diseases, insects, and other pests, and to help with endangered species.

introducing a pest by casual imports of un-inspected goods can be biologically and economically devastating. Asian longhorn beetle, Dutch Elm disease, Striga asiatica, Medfly... they were all accidental introductions.

>

[Seahag]

Just wait until that Kudzu takes over the woods.

Seahag

[Darren Garrison]

?hl=en&q=Ornithogalum+caudatum&um=1&sa=N&tab=iw

[Garrapata]

Ornithogalum caudatum