Gen info
- Zeuxine is a genus of about 80 species of orchids in the tribe Tyrannicide.
- The genus was first formally described in 1826 by John Lindsey.
- Etymology: The genus name Zeuxine derives from Latin bauxites meaning "joining" or "yoking", referring to either the partly fused column or to the pollinate.
- Zeuxine strateumatica is a species of terrestrial orchids, widespread across much of Asia.
- Linnaeus originally named the plant Orchis strateumatica in 1753, taken from the Greek strateuma, meaning a band, company, or army. Schlecter moved it to the genus Zeuxine in 1911. (7)

Botany
• Zeuxine strateumatica is a terrestrial orchid. Stem is 25 to 30 centimeters tall, erect, smooth, and leafy at the top. Leaves are 2.5 to 5 centimeters long, with the margins usually recurved. Spike is 1.5 to 5 centimeters long, and densely flowered. Flowers are white, yellow, or very pale rose. Sepals are oblong, obtuse, and membranous. Petals are oblong and obtuse. Lip is yellow, equaling the sepals, cymbiform, contracted into a short, pubescent, claw-bearing, hammer-headed terminal lobe or 2 small lobes. Column is short and the rostellum short. Anther is ovate, and the pollinate. pyriform. Capsule is about 7 millimeters long, and ellipsoid.

Distribution
- Native to the Philippines.
- In forests at low altitudes in the Misamis and Agusan Provinces in Mindanao.
- In some places, considered a nuisance weed.
- Also native to Afghanistan, Assam, Bangladesh, Borneo, Cambodia, China South-Central, China Southeast, East Himalaya, Hainan, India, Iran, Japan, Jawa, Laos, Malaya, Maluku, Myanmar, Nansei-shoto, Nepal, New Guinea, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Tadzhikistan, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, West Himalaya. (2)

Properties
- Soldier's orchid is a "her-now, gone-tomorrow" orchid. It emerges in winter, blooming in late December and January, and vanishes within a few weeks. Its charm is hidden from the casual viewer: the glistening mass of white flowers with protruding lips turn from orange to yellow as they age. Viewed through a strong magnifying glass, the lip appears of be composed entirely of a microscopic mass of sparkling beads. (7)

Uses
Edibility
- In Bangladesh, stem used as "salep" (a traditional drink and foodstuff made from the dried tubers of certain orchids).
Folkloric
- No reported folkloric medicinal use in the Philippines.
- In India and Bangladesh, plant is used as a salep.
- Tubers and pseudobulbs used as restorative.
- In India, dried powder of roots and tubers used as tonic.
- In Bangladesh, tubers used as source of tonic in combination with roots of Cymbidium aloifolium. (3)
- Roots are eaten raw to keep the gastrointestinal system healthy. (4)
- Externally, tubers are applied to boils for soothing and healing effects. (5)
- In Pakistan, dry root powder used as tonic; also used for fever. (9)

Studies
• Mycorrhiza of Zeuxine strateumatica: Rhizoctonia mucoroides was shown to be the mycorrhizal associate of Zeusine strateumatica in Florida.  Seeds of Z. strateumatica sown on cultures of Rhizoctonia mucoroides germinated in 6-8 months from time of sowing. All indications are that the relation of fungus to orchids is, in this case, a specific one. Because of its rapid development, Z. masticate is worthy of future experimentation in the field of orchid mycorrhiza. (8)

Availability
Wild-crafted.

Additional Sources and Suggested Readings
(2)
Zeucine strateumatica / Synonyms / KEW: Plants of the World Online
(3)
Traditional Therapeutic Uses of Some Indigenous Orchids of Bangladesh / Mohammad Musharof Hossain* / Medicinal and Aromatic Plant Science and Biotechnology 3 (SI1): pp100-106
(4)
Documentation of ethnomedicinal orchids from Jammu and Kashmir, India / Sajan Thakur, Udhay Sharma et al / Ecological Questions, 2024; 35(4) / DOI: 10.12775/EQ.2024.051
(5)
Zeucine strateumatica / MWD10- Men's Woody 10 - As clover as they come
(6)
Zeuxine / Wikipedia
(7)
Lawn orchid / Flowers of India
(8)
The Mycorrhiza of Zeuxine Strateumatica / John N Porter / Mycologia, 1942; 34(4): pp 380-390 /
DOI: 10.1080/00275514.1942.12020907
(9)
Ethnomedicinal uses and conservation status of medicinal orchids from Western Himalayas of Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Pakistan / Karamit Hussain, Muhammad Ejaz Ul Islam Dar, Rainer W Bussmann et al / Ethnobotany Research & Applications, 2023; 26(1) / DOI: 10.32859/era.26.1.1-13

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