Rare Orchids’ Brief History

Orchids are said to be as old as dinosaurs and have been around for over one hundred million years. Orchids are one of the most diverse flower types around and have an amazingly large plant family. They have been around for a long time and it’s no surprise that there are now over 30,000 species of orchids and a lot more hybrids of this enchanting and exotic flora.

Did you noticed that the orchids look like a little “testicular”? That is how it’s name was derived from a classical Greek “Orchis-an” meaning “testicle”. Orchids grow all over the world, however, one most economically useful orchid can be found in Central America and Mexico. This orchid called Vanilla Planifolia lives up to its name as it is indeed the source of vanilla flavoring. Let’s thank the Aztecs for figuring out how to get the vanilla out of the plant. The world’s largest producer of Vanilla Planifolia is Madagascar in Africa and their biggest consumer is vanilla and Coca Cola.

Orchids have captured our imagination for centuries with the earliest pictures of rare orchids showing up in Asian art circa 700 BC. Many cultures have believed that orchids have special healing powers. Orchids were recorded in many documents of herbalists and medicinal documents. Even though orchids started out as strictly a wild flower that grew on trees, they have evolved as one of the most popular and beloved bloom of the flower world.

Charles Darwin and Rare Orchids

When Charles Darwin was formulating the theory of natural selection, orchids were his perfect specimen. He documented the pollination cycles of the Angreacum Sesquipidales. Darwin predicted that at night, when the orchid gave off a strong scent, the insect that pollinated it would be a moth since the orchid’s bright white color looks like a light in the dark. Sure enough, a little moth proved his theory and was instrumental in pollinating Angreacum Sesquipidales. Tricks of nature are really cool!

Reproduction

The reason there are now so many species of orchid (over 35,000 at last count) is because the different species have such creative ways to reproduce (think about the moth magnet we described above). Some orchids rely on flying insects while others rely on crawling insects and finally there are orchids that rely on the wind for pollination.

Another clever use of flying insects is found used by the Bee Orchid. This clever rare orchid lures bees to its flower by its disguise. This Bee Orchid looks like the female receptive bee which entices the male bee towards its pollinia. Other orchids have long stems which look as they are butterflies when dancing in the wind. Again, pretty dang tricky of these orchids.

As a whole, orchids are centuries-old flowers that are more fascinating today than at any time in history. It’s such a joy for many people all over the world to cultivate, grow, breed and display orchids in their homes and/or greenhouses.

Want to find out more about rare orchids, then visit Liz Porter’s site on how to choose the best flowers for your needs.