Ever wondered how a bamboo orchid look like? Like a bamboo! Which is a tall grass. Which is a reed. That's how the name came about. In Latin arundo means reed. Because the stem of this wayside orchid is akin to that of the reed, it came to be known as the Bamboo Orchid.
Driving back to Bintulu from Kuching, a distance of 600 km last week and many many moons before that, I realise that the stretch between Sibu and Bintulu is the best area to find these orchids growing wild along the Sarawak highway. I find them most endemic from Bintulu to Tatau where they grow in groups or clusters. The bamboo orchids are native to this part of the world but I understand that they are not found in the Philippines.