The Rongmei Naga tribe of Nagaland used this unique object as a sample of yellow orchid skin that was preserved. The term "orchid wooden" most likely refers to a segment of bark or outer tissue of a yellow orchid plant, exemplifying the deeper ethnobotanical knowledge of the Rongmei representatives and their appreciation of nature both in functional and symbolic dimensions. Orchids bear cultural and medicinal implications in many of the tribal societies in Northeast India. The Rongmei Nagas, in particular, are famous for their close relationship with the forests and nature, are said to have traditionally used plants in rituals, healing, and ornamentation, including the bark of orchids.
The bright-yellow blooms, so rare, would have been considered sacred or symbolic and used during special occasions, or a specimen would have been kept for the purpose of crafting or study. The wooden piece probably refers to a woody- or barky-textured outer layer of the orchid; the specimen either could have been dried for practical uses like dyeing or scent extraction or kept as a pure botanical specimen. Collecting and preparing the skins of plants forms a wider oral and material tradition by which indigenous tribes transfer plant knowledge and environmental stewardship. Thus, this represents a form of natural specimen and the suffering of traditional ecological knowledge through which plants play a central role in the material culture and identity of the Rongmei Naga.