Years ago, the Japanese built the Mienyueh branch of the Alishan Mountain Railway to gain access to the cypress forests for logging. As the engineers cut their way along mountainsides and hacked out tunnels, they exposed large areas of steep rock face shaded by dense jungle above, and thus unwittingly produced excellent conditions for pleiones to grow.
早年日人為了採集檜木林，興建了阿里山眠月線鐵路，沿線開挖岩壁、穿鑿隧道，出現大面積裸岩與峭壁，岩壁上方林木茂密，無意中提供了一葉蘭絕佳的生育地。