In article ,
Kay wrote:

A lot of plants have symbiotic relationships with fungi. It seems very
critical with orchids - possible reasons could be a) maybe the orchid
symbiont is rare b) maybe orchids are less able than other plants to get
by without the symbiosis

Both. It applies almost entirely to the terrestrial ones, not the
epiphytes (even when they are grown in soil). The rarity is the
cause of the soil dependence, and the essential dependence is the
reason that the orchids are so hard to grow artificially.

Birch is very odd, because it can grow perfectly well without its
mycorrhiza, but has more such associations that any other plant I
can think of. Definitely the libertine of the mycorrhizal world!


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.