Orchidaceae
Encyclopedia
The Orchidaceae, commonly referred to as the orchid family, is a morphologically diverse and widespread family of monocots in the order Asparagales
. Along with the Asteraceae
, it is one of the two largest families
of flowering plants, with between 21,950 and 26,049 currently accepted species
, found in 880 genera
. Selecting which of the two families is larger remains elusive because of the difficulties associated with putting hard species numbers on such enormous groups. Regardless, the number of orchid species equals more than twice the number of bird
species, and about four times the number of mammal
species. It also encompasses about 6–11% of all seed plants. The largest genera are Bulbophyllum
(2,000 species), Epidendrum
(1,500 species), Dendrobium
(1,400 species) and Pleurothallis (1,000 species).
The family also includes Vanilla
(the genus of the vanilla plant
), Orchis
(type genus), and many commonly cultivated plants such as Phalaenopsis
and Cattleya
. Moreover, since the introduction of tropical species in the 19th century, horticulturists
have produced more than 100,000 hybrids and cultivar
s.
", because of the shape of the root.. Linnaeus categorized the family as Orchidaceae. Orchid was introduced in 1845 by John Lindley
in School Botany, due to an incorrect attempt to extract the Latin stem (orchis) from Orchidaceae.
The Greek myth of Orchis explains the origin of the plants. Orchis, the son of a nymph
and a satyr
, came upon a festival of Dionysios (Bacchus) in the forest. He drank too much, and attempted to rape a priestess of Dionysios. For his insult, he was torn apart by the Bacchanalians. His father prayed for him to be restored, but the gods instead changed him into a flower.
These flowers were previously called Orchis
, Satyrion
(Satyrion feminina), or "ballockwort".
, occurring in almost every habitat
apart from glacier
s. The world's richest concentration of orchid varieties is found in the Himalayan region of Nepal. The great majority are to be found in the tropics
, mostly Asia
, South America
and Central America
, but they are also found above the Arctic Circle
, in southern Patagonia
, and even two species of Nematoceras
on Macquarie Island
, close to Antarctica.
The following list gives a rough overview of their distribution:
by the APG III system of 2009.
Five subfamilies are recognised. The cladogram
has been made according to the APG system
:
(labellum), fused stamens and carpels, and extremely small seed
s.
herb
s, lack any permanent wood
y structure, and can grow according to two patterns:
Terrestrial orchids may be rhizomatous
or form corm
s or tuber
s. The root caps of terrestrials are smooth and white.
Some sympodial terrestrials, such as Orchis
and Ophrys
, have two subterranean tuberous roots. One is used as a food reserve for wintry periods, and provides for the development of the other one, from which visible growth develops.
In warm and humid climates, many terrestrial orchids do not need pseudobulbs.
Epiphytic orchids have modified aerial root
s that can sometimes be a few meters long. In the older parts of the roots, a modified spongy epidermis
, called velamen
, has the function to absorb humidity. It is made of dead cells and can have a silvery-grey, white or brown appearance. In some orchids, the velamen includes spongy and fibrous bodies near the passage cells, called tilosomes.
The cells of the root epidermis grow at a right angle to the axis of the root to allow them to get a firm grasp on their support. Nutrients mainly come from animal droppings and other organic detritus on their supporting surfaces.
The base of the stem of sympodial epiphytes, or in some species essentially the entire stem, may be thickened to form a pseudobulb
that contains nutrients and water for drier periods.
The pseudobulb has a smooth surface with lengthwise grooves, and can have different shapes, often conical or oblong. Its size is very variable; in some small species of Bulbophyllum
, it is no longer than two millimeters, while in the largest orchid in the world, Grammatophyllum speciosum (giant orchid), it can reach three meters. Some Dendrobium
species have long, canelike pseudobulbs with short, rounded leaves over the whole length; some other orchids have hidden or extremely small pseudobulbs, completely included inside the leaves.
With ageing, the pseudobulb sheds its leaves and becomes dormant. At this stage it is often called a backbulb. A pseudobulb then takes over, exploiting the last reserves accumulated in the backbulb, which eventually dies off, too. A pseudobulb typically lives for about five years.
Like most monocots, orchids generally have simple leaves
with parallel vein
s, although some Vanilloideae
have a reticulate venation
. Leaves may be ovate, lanceolate, or orbiculate, and very variable in size. Their characteristics are often diagnostic. They are normally alternate
on the stem, often plicate, and have no stipule
s. Orchid leaves often have siliceous bodies called stegmata in the vascular bundle
sheaths (not present in the Orchidoideae
) and are fibrous.
The structure of the leaves corresponds to the specific habitat of the plant. Species that typically bask in sunlight, or grow on sites which can be occasionally very dry, have thick, leathery leaves and the laminae are covered by a waxy cuticle
to retain their necessary water supply. Shade species, on the other hand, have long, thin leaves.
The leaves of most orchids are perennial, that is, they live for several years, while others, especially those with plicate leaves, shed them annually and develop new leaves together with new pseudobulbs, as in Catasetum
.
The leaves of some orchids are considered ornamental. The leaves of the Macodes sanderiana, a semiterrestrial or lithophyte, show a sparkling silver and gold veining on a light green background. The cordate leaves of Psychopsiella limminghei are light brownish-green with maroon-puce markings, created by flower pigments. The attractive mottle of the leaves of lady's slipper
s from tropical and subtropical Asia (Paphiopedilum
), is caused by uneven distribution of chlorophyll. Also, Phalaenopsis schilleriana is a pastel pink orchid with leaves spotted dark green and light green. The jewel orchid (Ludisia discolor) is grown more for its colorful leaves than its white flowers.
Some orchids, as Dendrophylax lindenii (ghost orchid), Aphyllorchis
and Taeniophyllum
depend on their green roots for photosynthesis
and lack normally developed leaves, as do all of the heterotrophic species.
Orchids of the genus Corallorhiza (coralroot orchids) lack leaves altogether and instead wrap their roots around the roots of mature trees and use specialized fungi to harvest sugars.
Orchidaceae are well known for the many structural variations in their flower
s.
Some orchids have single flowers, but most have a racemose inflorescence
, sometimes with a large number of flowers. The flowering stem can be basal, that is, produced from the base of the tuber, like in Cymbidium
, apical, meaning it grows from the apex of the main stem, like in Cattleya
, or axillary, from the leaf axil, as in Vanda.
As an apomorphy of the clade
, orchid flowers are primitively zygomorphic (bilaterally symmetrical), although in some genera like Mormodes
, Ludisia
and Macodes
, this kind of symmetry may be difficult to notice.
The orchid flower, like most flowers of monocots, has two whorls of sterile elements. The outer whorl has three sepal
s and the inner whorl has three petal
s. The sepals are usually very similar to the petals (and thus called tepals, 1), but may be completely distinct.
The upper medial petal, called the labellum
or lip (6), is always modified and enlarged. The inferior ovary
(7) or the pedicel
usually rotates 180 degrees, so that the labellum, goes on the lower part of the flower, thus becoming suitable to form a platform for pollinators. This characteristic, called resupination
, occurs primitively in the family and is considered apomorphic (the torsion of the ovary is very evident from the picture). Some orchids have secondarily lost this resupination, e. g. Zygopetalum
and Epidendrum secundum
.
The normal form of the sepals can be found in Cattleya
, where they form a triangle. In Paphiopedilum
(Venus slippers), the lower two sepals are fused into a synsepal
, while the lip has taken the form of a slipper. In Masdevallia
, all the sepals are fused.
Orchid flowers with abnormal numbers of petals or lips are called peloric. Peloria is a genetic trait, but its expression is environmentally influenced and may appear random.
Orchid flowers primitively had three stamen
s, but this situation is now limited to the genus Neuwiedia
. Apostasia and the Cypripedioideae have two stamens, the central one being sterile and reduced to a staminode
. All of the other orchids, the clade called Monandria, retain only the central stamen, the others being reduced to staminode
s (4). The filaments of the stamen
s are always adnate
(fused) to the style to form cylindrical structure called the gynostemium or column
(2). In the primitive Apostasioideae
, this fusion is only partial; in the Vanilloideae
, it is more deep; in Orchidoideae
and Epidendroideae
, it is total. The stigma (9) is very asymmetrical, as all of its lobes are bent towards the centre of the flower and lay on the bottom of the column.
Pollen
is released as single grains, like in most other plants, in the Apostasioideae
, Cypripedioideae and Vanilloideae
. In the other subfamilies, that comprise the great majority of orchids, the anther (3), carries and two pollinia
.
A pollinium is a waxy mass of pollen grains held together by the glue-like alkaloid
viscin, containing both cellulosic strands and mucopolysaccharides. Each pollinium is connected to a filament which can take the form of a caudicle, as in Dactylorhiza
or Habenaria
, or a stipe
, as in Vanda. Caudicles or stipes hold the pollinia to the viscidium, a sticky pad which sticks the pollinia to the body of pollinator
s.
At the upper edge of the stigma of single-anthered orchids, in front of the anther cap, there is the rostellum
(5), a slender extension involved in the complex pollination mechanism.
As aforementioned, the ovary
is always inferior (located behind the flower). It is three-carpelate and one or, more rarely, three-partitioned, with parietal placenta
tion (axile in the Apostasioideae
).
In 2011, a member of the genus Bulbophyllum
, Bulbophyllum nocturnum
, was discovered to flower nocturnally.
The ovary typically develops into a capsule
that is dehiscent by three or six longitudinal slits, while remaining closed at both ends. The ripening
of a capsule can take two to 18 months.
The seed
s are generally almost microscopic and very numerous, in some species over a million per capsule. After ripening, they blow off like dust particles or spores. They lack endosperm
and must enter symbiotic relationships with various mycorrhizal
basidiomyceteous fungi that provide them the necessary nutrients to germinate, so that all orchid species are mycoheterotrophic during germination and reliant upon fungi to complete their lifecycles.
As the chance for a seed to meet a fitting fungus is very small, only a minute fraction of all the seeds released grow into adult plants. In cultivation, germination typically takes weeks, while there is a report of one paphiopedilum that took fifteen years.
Horticultural techniques have been devised for germinating seeds on a nutrient-containing gel, eliminating the requirement of the fungus for germination, greatly aiding the propagation of ornamental orchids.
The main component for the sowing of orchids in artificial conditions is the agar agar. The substance is put together with some type of carbohydrate
(actually, some kind of glucose
) which provides qualitative organic feed. Such substance may be banana
, pineapple
, peach
or even tomato
puree or coconut milk
. After the "cooking" of the agar agar (it has to be cooked in sterile conditions), the mix is poured into test tubes or jars where the substance begins to gel.
were investigated by Charles Darwin
and described in his 1862 book Fertilisation of Orchids
. Orchids have developed highly specialized pollination
systems, thus the chances of being pollinated are often scarce, so orchid flowers usually remain receptive for very long periods, and most orchids deliver pollen in a single mass. Each time pollination succeeds, thousands of ovules can be fertilized.
Pollinators are often visually attracted by the shape and colours of the labellum. The flowers may produce attractive odours. Although absent in most species, nectar may be produced in a spur
(8) of the labellum, on the point of the sepals or in the septa of the ovary, the most typical position amongst the Asparagales
.
In orchids that produce pollinia, pollination happens as some variant of the following. When the pollinator enters into the flower, it touches a viscidium, which promptly sticks to its body, generally on the head or abdomen. While leaving the flower, it pulls the pollinium out of the anther, as it is connected to the viscidium by the caudicle or stipe. The caudicle then bends and the pollinium is moved forwards and downwards. When the pollinator enters another flower of the same species, the pollinium has taken such position that it will stick to the stigma of the second flower, just below the rostellum, pollinating it. The possessors of orchids may be able to reproduce the process with a pencil, small paintbrush, or other similar device.
Some orchids mainly or totally rely on self-pollination
, especially in colder regions where pollinators are particularly rare. The caudicles may dry up if the flower has not been visited by any pollinator, and the pollinia then fall directly on the stigma. Otherwise, the anther may rotate and then enter the stigma cavity of the flower (as in Holcoglossum amesianum).
The labellum of the Cypripedioideae is poke-shaped, and has the function to trap visiting insects. The only exit leads to the anthers that deposit pollen on the visitor.
In some extremely specialized orchids, such as the Eurasian genus Ophrys
, the labellum is adapted to have a colour, shape and odour which attracts male insects via mimicry of a receptive female. Pollination happens as the insect attempts to mate with flowers.
Many neotropical orchids are pollinated by male orchid bees
, which visit the flowers to gather volatile chemicals they require to synthesize pheromonal
attractants. Each type of orchid places the pollinia on a different body part of a different species of bee, so as to enforce proper cross-pollination.
An underground orchid in Australia, Rhizanthella slateri
, is never exposed to light, and depends on ant
s and other terrestrial insects to pollinate it.
Catasetum
, a genus discussed briefly by Darwin
, actually launches its viscid pollinia with explosive force when an insect touches a seta
, knocking the pollinator off the flower.
After pollination, the sepals and petals fade and wilt, but they usually remain attached to the ovary.
, Dendrobium
and Vanda, produce offshoots or plantlets formed from one of the nodes along the stem
, through the accumulation of growth hormones at that point. These shoots are known as keiki
.
has hypothesized that the origin of orchids goes back much longer than originally expected. An extinct species of stingless bee, Proplebeia dominicana, was found trapped in Miocene
amber
from about 15-20 million years ago. The bee was carrying pollen
of a previously unknown orchid taxon, Meliorchis caribea
, on its wings. This find is the first evidence of fossilised orchids to date. The extinct orchid M. caribea has been placed within the extant tribe Cranichideae, subtribe Goodyerinae (subfamily Orchidoideae
).
This indicates orchids may have arisen 76 to 84 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous
. In other words, they may have coexisted with dinosaur
s. It also shows insects were active pollinator
s of orchids then. According to Chase et al. (2001), the overall biogeography and phylogenetic patterns of Orchidaceae show they are even older and may go back roughly 100 million years.
Using the molecular clock
method, it was possible to determine the age of the major branches of the orchid family. This also confirmed that the subfamily Vanilloideae
is a branch at the basal dichotomy of the monandrous
orchids, and must have evolved very early in the evolution of the family. Since this genus occurs worldwide in tropical and subtropical regions, from tropical America to tropical Asia, New Guinea and West Africa, and the continents began to split about 100 million years ago, significant biotic exchange must have occurred after this split (since the age of Vanilla is estimated at 60 to 70 million years).
epiphyte
s, which grow anchored to tree
s or shrub
s in the tropics
and subtropics. Species such as Angraecum
sororium are lithophyte
s, growing on rocks or very rocky soil. Other orchids (including the majority of temperate
Orchidaceae) are terrestrial and can be found in habitat areas such as grasslands or forest.
Some orchids, such as Neottia and Corallorhiza, lack chlorophyll
, so are unable to photosynthesize. Instead, these species obtain energy and nutrients by parasitising
soil fungi through the formation of orchid mycorrhiza
s. The fungi involved include those that form ectomycorrhizas with trees and other woody plants, parasites such as Armillaria, and saprotrophs. These orchids are known as myco-heterotrophs, but were formerly (incorrectly) described as saprophytes due to the belief that they gained their nutrition by breaking down organic matter. While only a few species are achlorophyllous holoparasite
s, all orchids are myco-heterotrophic during germination and seedling growth, and even photosynthetic adult plants may continue to obtain carbon from their mycorrhiza
l fungi.
The dried seed pods of one orchid genus, Vanilla
, are commercially important as flavoring in baking
, for perfume
manufacture and aromatherapy
.
The underground tubers of terrestrial orchids [mainly Orchis mascula (early purple orchid)] are ground to a powder and used for cooking, such as in the hot beverage salep
or in the Turkish frozen treat dondurma. The name salep has been claimed to come from the Arabic expression ḥasyu al-tha`lab, "fox testicles", but it appears more likely the name comes directly from the Arabic name saḥlab. The similarity in appearance to testes naturally accounts for salep being considered an aphrodisiac.
The dried leaves of Jumellea fragrans are used to flavor rum on Reunion Island.
The scent of orchids is frequently analysed by perfumer
s (using headspace technology
and gas-liquid chromatography
) to identify potential fragrance chemicals.
The other important use of orchids is their cultivation for the enjoyment of the flowers. Most cultivated orchids are tropical
or subtropical
, but quite a few which grow in colder climates can be found on the market. Temperate species available at nurseries include Ophrys apifera
(bee orchid), Gymnadenia conopsea
(fragrant orchid), Anacamptis pyramidalis
(pyramidal orchid) and Dactylorhiza fuchsii
(common spotted orchid).
Orchids of all types have also often been sought by collectors of both species and hybrids. As such, many hundreds of societies and clubs worldwide have been established. These can be small, local clubs such as the Sutherland Shire Orchid Society, or larger, national organisations such as the American Orchid Society. Both serve to encourage cultivation and collection of orchids, but some go further by concentrating on conservation or research.
The term "botanical orchid" loosely denotes those small-flowered, tropical orchids belonging to several genera (not necessarily related to each other) that do not fit into the "florist" orchid category. A few of these genera contain enormous numbers of species. Some, such as Pleurothallis and Bulbophyllum
, contain approximately 1700 and 2000 species, respectively, and are often extremely vegetatively diverse. The primary use of the term is among orchid hobbyists wishing to describe unusual species they grow, though it is also used to distinguish naturally occurring orchid species from horticulturally created hybrids.
in an effort to treat many diseases and ailments. They have been used as a source of herbal remedies in China since 2800 BC. Gastrodia elata
is one of the three orchids listed in the earliest known Chinese Materia Medica (Shennon bencaojing) (c. 100 AD). Theophrastus
mentions orchids in his Enquiry into Plants (372–286 BC).
In the recent years, a number of studies have been published on anticancer activity of the chemical moscatilin, which is found in the stems of the orchid species Dendrobrium
.
, China.
In Chinese culture
, the bamboo
, plum blossom, orchid, and chrysanthemum
(often known as méi lán zhú jú 梅兰竹菊) are collectively referred to as the Four Gentlemen
. These four plants also represent the four season
s and, in Confucian
ideology, four aspects of the junzi
("prince" or "noble one").
Asparagales
Asparagales is the name of an order of plants, used in modern classification systems such as the APG III system . The order takes its name from the family Asparagaceae and is placed in the monocots. The order has only recently been recognized in classification systems...
. Along with the Asteraceae
Asteraceae
The Asteraceae or Compositae , is an exceedingly large and widespread family of vascular plants. The group has more than 22,750 currently accepted species, spread across 1620 genera and 12 subfamilies...
, it is one of the two largest families
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
of flowering plants, with between 21,950 and 26,049 currently accepted species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
, found in 880 genera
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
. Selecting which of the two families is larger remains elusive because of the difficulties associated with putting hard species numbers on such enormous groups. Regardless, the number of orchid species equals more than twice the number of bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
species, and about four times the number of mammal
Mammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
species. It also encompasses about 6–11% of all seed plants. The largest genera are Bulbophyllum
Bulbophyllum
Bulbophyllum is the largest genus in the orchid family Orchidaceae. With more than 2,000 species, it is also one of the largest genera of flowering plants, exceeded only by Astragalus...
(2,000 species), Epidendrum
Epidendrum
Epidendrum , abbreviated Epi in horticultural trade, is a large neotropical genus of the orchid family. With more than 1,100 species, some authors describe it as a mega-genus. The genus name refers to its epiphytic growth habit...
(1,500 species), Dendrobium
Dendrobium
Dendrobium is a huge genus of orchids. It was established by Olof Swartz in 1799 and today contains about 1,200 species. The genus occurs in diverse habitats throughout much of south, east and southeast Asia, including the Philippines, Borneo, Australia, New Guinea, Solomon Islands and New Zealand...
(1,400 species) and Pleurothallis (1,000 species).
The family also includes Vanilla
Vanilla
Vanilla is a flavoring derived from orchids of the genus Vanilla, primarily from the Mexican species, Flat-leaved Vanilla . The word vanilla derives from the Spanish word "", little pod...
(the genus of the vanilla plant
Vanilla planifolia
Vanilla planifolia is a species of vanilla orchid. It is native to Mexico, and is one of the primary sources for vanilla flavouring, due to its high vanillin content. Common names are Flat-leaved Vanilla, Tahitian Vanilla , and West Indian Vanilla...
), Orchis
Orchis
Orchis is a genus in the orchid family . This genus gets its name from the Ancient Greek ὄρχις orchis, meaning "testicle", from the appearance of the paired subterranean tuberoids....
(type genus), and many commonly cultivated plants such as Phalaenopsis
Phalaenopsis
Phalaenopsis Blume , abbreviated Phal in the horticultural trade, is an orchid genus of approximately 60 species. Phalaenopsis is one of the most popular orchids in the trade, through the development of many artificial hybrids....
and Cattleya
Cattleya
Cattleya is a genus of 113 species of orchids from Costa Rica to tropical South America. The genus was named in 1824 by John Lindley after Sir William Cattley who received and successfully cultivated specimens of Cattleya labiata that were used as packing material in a shipment of other orchids...
. Moreover, since the introduction of tropical species in the 19th century, horticulturists
Horticulture
Horticulture is the industry and science of plant cultivation including the process of preparing soil for the planting of seeds, tubers, or cuttings. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, crop production, plant breeding and genetic...
have produced more than 100,000 hybrids and cultivar
Cultivar
A cultivar'Cultivar has two meanings as explained under Formal definition. When used in reference to a taxon, the word does not apply to an individual plant but to all those plants sharing the unique characteristics that define the cultivar. is a plant or group of plants selected for desirable...
s.
Etymology
The name comes from the Greek ὄρχις (órkhis), literally meaning "testicleTesticle
The testicle is the male gonad in animals. Like the ovaries to which they are homologous, testes are components of both the reproductive system and the endocrine system...
", because of the shape of the root.. Linnaeus categorized the family as Orchidaceae. Orchid was introduced in 1845 by John Lindley
John Lindley
John Lindley FRS was an English botanist, gardener and orchidologist.-Early years:Born in Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four children of George and Mary Lindley. George Lindley was a nurseryman and pomologist and ran a commercial nursery garden...
in School Botany, due to an incorrect attempt to extract the Latin stem (orchis) from Orchidaceae.
The Greek myth of Orchis explains the origin of the plants. Orchis, the son of a nymph
Nymph
A nymph in Greek mythology is a female minor nature deity typically associated with a particular location or landform. Different from gods, nymphs are generally regarded as divine spirits who animate nature, and are usually depicted as beautiful, young nubile maidens who love to dance and sing;...
and a satyr
Satyr
In Greek mythology, satyrs are a troop of male companions of Pan and Dionysus — "satyresses" were a late invention of poets — that roamed the woods and mountains. In myths they are often associated with pipe-playing....
, came upon a festival of Dionysios (Bacchus) in the forest. He drank too much, and attempted to rape a priestess of Dionysios. For his insult, he was torn apart by the Bacchanalians. His father prayed for him to be restored, but the gods instead changed him into a flower.
These flowers were previously called Orchis
Orchis
Orchis is a genus in the orchid family . This genus gets its name from the Ancient Greek ὄρχις orchis, meaning "testicle", from the appearance of the paired subterranean tuberoids....
, Satyrion
Satyrion
In Greek mythology, Satyrion is the name of a nymph, perhaps from the region of Taranto, Italy. Her union with the god Poseidon produced Taras....
(Satyrion feminina), or "ballockwort".
Distribution
Orchidaceae are cosmopolitanCosmopolitan distribution
In biogeography, a taxon is said to have a cosmopolitan distribution if its range extends across all or most of the world in appropriate habitats. For instance, the killer whale has a cosmopolitan distribution, extending over most of the world's oceans. Other examples include humans, the lichen...
, occurring in almost every habitat
Habitat (ecology)
A habitat is an ecological or environmental area that is inhabited by a particular species of animal, plant or other type of organism...
apart from glacier
Glacier
A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...
s. The world's richest concentration of orchid varieties is found in the Himalayan region of Nepal. The great majority are to be found in the tropics
Tropics
The tropics is a region of the Earth surrounding the Equator. It is limited in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere at approximately N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere at S; these latitudes correspond to the axial tilt of the Earth...
, mostly Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
and Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
, but they are also found above the Arctic Circle
Arctic Circle
The Arctic Circle is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. For Epoch 2011, it is the parallel of latitude that runs north of the Equator....
, in southern Patagonia
Patagonia
Patagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean...
, and even two species of Nematoceras
Nematoceras
Nematoceras is a genus of orchids , sometimes known as spider orchids, helmet orchids or spidery helmet-orchids, found mainly in New Zealand and its subantarctic islands, with two species on Australia’s Macquarie Island...
on Macquarie Island
Macquarie Island
Macquarie Island lies in the southwest corner of the Pacific Ocean, about half-way between New Zealand and Antarctica, at 54°30S, 158°57E. Politically, it has formed part of the Australian state of Tasmania since 1900 and became a Tasmanian State Reserve in 1978. In 1997 it became a world heritage...
, close to Antarctica.
The following list gives a rough overview of their distribution:
- tropical Asia: 260 to 300 genera
- tropical America: 250 to 270 genera
- tropical Africa: 230 to 270 genera
- Oceania: 50 to 70 genera
- Europe and temperate Asia: 40 to 60 genera
- North America: 20 to 26 genera
Taxonomy
The taxonomy of this family is in constant flux, as new studies continue to identify more classificatory elements. The Orchidaceae is currently placed in the order AsparagalesAsparagales
Asparagales is the name of an order of plants, used in modern classification systems such as the APG III system . The order takes its name from the family Asparagaceae and is placed in the monocots. The order has only recently been recognized in classification systems...
by the APG III system of 2009.
Five subfamilies are recognised. The cladogram
Cladogram
A cladogram is a diagram used in cladistics which shows ancestral relations between organisms, to represent the evolutionary tree of life. Although traditionally such cladograms were generated largely on the basis of morphological characters, DNA and RNA sequencing data and computational...
has been made according to the APG system
APG system
The APG system of plant classification is the first, now obsolete, version of a modern, mostly molecular-based, system of plant taxonomy that was published in 1998 by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group. It was superseded in 2003 by a revision, the APG II system, and then in 2009 by a further...
:
Characteristics
Orchids are easily distinguished from other plants, as they share some very evident apomorphies. Among these are: bilateral symmetry (zygomorphism), many resupinate flowers, a nearly always highly modified petalPetal
Petals are modified leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They often are brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. Together, all of the petals of a flower are called a corolla. Petals are usually accompanied by another set of special leaves called sepals lying...
(labellum), fused stamens and carpels, and extremely small seed
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
s.
Stem and Roots
All orchids are perennialPerennial plant
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...
herb
Herb
Except in botanical usage, an herb is "any plant with leaves, seeds, or flowers used for flavoring, food, medicine, or perfume" or "a part of such a plant as used in cooking"...
s, lack any permanent wood
Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
y structure, and can grow according to two patterns:
- MonopodialMonopodialVascular plants with monopodial growth habits grow upward from a single point. They add leaves to the apex each year and the stem grows longer accordingly...
: The stem grows from a single bud, leaves are added from the apex each year and the stem grows longer accordingly. The stem of orchids with a monopodial growth can reach several metres in length, as in Vanda and VanillaVanillaVanilla is a flavoring derived from orchids of the genus Vanilla, primarily from the Mexican species, Flat-leaved Vanilla . The word vanilla derives from the Spanish word "", little pod...
. - SympodialSympodialSympodial means "with conjoined feet", and in biology is often used to refer to the outward morphology or mode of growth of organisms.-In botany:...
: The plant produces a series of adjacent shoots which grow to a certain size, bloom and then stop growing, to be then replaced. Sympodial orchids grow laterally rather than vertically, following the surface of their support. The growth continues by development of new leads, with their own leaves and roots, sprouting from or next to those of the previous year, as in CattleyaCattleyaCattleya is a genus of 113 species of orchids from Costa Rica to tropical South America. The genus was named in 1824 by John Lindley after Sir William Cattley who received and successfully cultivated specimens of Cattleya labiata that were used as packing material in a shipment of other orchids...
. While a new lead is developing, the rhizomeRhizomeIn botany and dendrology, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...
may start its growth again from a so-called 'eye', an undeveloped bud, thereby branching.
Rhizome
In botany and dendrology, a rhizome is a characteristically horizontal stem of a plant that is usually found underground, often sending out roots and shoots from its nodes...
or form corm
Corm
A corm is a short, vertical, swollen underground plant stem that serves as a storage organ used by some plants to survive winter or other adverse conditions such as summer drought and heat ....
s or tuber
Tuber
Tubers are various types of modified plant structures that are enlarged to store nutrients. They are used by plants to survive the winter or dry months and provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growing season and they are a means of asexual reproduction...
s. The root caps of terrestrials are smooth and white.
Some sympodial terrestrials, such as Orchis
Orchis
Orchis is a genus in the orchid family . This genus gets its name from the Ancient Greek ὄρχις orchis, meaning "testicle", from the appearance of the paired subterranean tuberoids....
and Ophrys
Ophrys
The genus Ophrys is a large group of orchids from the alliance Orchis in the subtribe Orchidinae. There are many natural hybrids. The type species is Ophrys insectifera L.1753...
, have two subterranean tuberous roots. One is used as a food reserve for wintry periods, and provides for the development of the other one, from which visible growth develops.
In warm and humid climates, many terrestrial orchids do not need pseudobulbs.
Epiphytic orchids have modified aerial root
Aerial root
Aerial roots are roots above the ground. They are almost always adventitious. They are found in diverse plant species, including epiphytes such as orchids, tropical coastal swamp trees such as mangroves, the resourceful banyan trees, the warm-temperate rainforest rātā and pōhutukawa Aerial roots...
s that can sometimes be a few meters long. In the older parts of the roots, a modified spongy epidermis
Epidermis (botany)
The epidermis is a single-layered group of cells that covers plants' leaves, flowers, roots and stems. It forms a boundary between the plant and the external environment. The epidermis serves several functions, it protects against water loss, regulates gas exchange, secretes metabolic compounds,...
, called velamen
Velamen
Velamen is a spongy, multiple epidermis that covers the roots of some epiphytic or semi-epiphytic plants, such as orchid and Clivia species....
, has the function to absorb humidity. It is made of dead cells and can have a silvery-grey, white or brown appearance. In some orchids, the velamen includes spongy and fibrous bodies near the passage cells, called tilosomes.
The cells of the root epidermis grow at a right angle to the axis of the root to allow them to get a firm grasp on their support. Nutrients mainly come from animal droppings and other organic detritus on their supporting surfaces.
Pseudobulb
The pseudobulb is a storage organ derived from the part of a stem between two leaf nodes.It applies to the orchid family , specifically certain groups of epiphytic orchids, and may be single or composed of several internodes with evergreen or deciduous leaves along its length.In some species, it is...
that contains nutrients and water for drier periods.
The pseudobulb has a smooth surface with lengthwise grooves, and can have different shapes, often conical or oblong. Its size is very variable; in some small species of Bulbophyllum
Bulbophyllum
Bulbophyllum is the largest genus in the orchid family Orchidaceae. With more than 2,000 species, it is also one of the largest genera of flowering plants, exceeded only by Astragalus...
, it is no longer than two millimeters, while in the largest orchid in the world, Grammatophyllum speciosum (giant orchid), it can reach three meters. Some Dendrobium
Dendrobium
Dendrobium is a huge genus of orchids. It was established by Olof Swartz in 1799 and today contains about 1,200 species. The genus occurs in diverse habitats throughout much of south, east and southeast Asia, including the Philippines, Borneo, Australia, New Guinea, Solomon Islands and New Zealand...
species have long, canelike pseudobulbs with short, rounded leaves over the whole length; some other orchids have hidden or extremely small pseudobulbs, completely included inside the leaves.
With ageing, the pseudobulb sheds its leaves and becomes dormant. At this stage it is often called a backbulb. A pseudobulb then takes over, exploiting the last reserves accumulated in the backbulb, which eventually dies off, too. A pseudobulb typically lives for about five years.
Leaves
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
with parallel vein
Vein
In the circulatory system, veins are blood vessels that carry blood towards the heart. Most veins carry deoxygenated blood from the tissues back to the heart; exceptions are the pulmonary and umbilical veins, both of which carry oxygenated blood to the heart...
s, although some Vanilloideae
Vanilloideae
Vanilloideae is one of the subfamilies of orchids belonging to the large family Orchidaceae.Lindley and even Garay used to treat it as a separate family Vanillaceae. But their single, incumbent anther and poorly organised pollinia led to their recognition as at best a subgroup of monandrous...
have a reticulate venation
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
. Leaves may be ovate, lanceolate, or orbiculate, and very variable in size. Their characteristics are often diagnostic. They are normally alternate
Phyllotaxis
In botany, phyllotaxis or phyllotaxy is the arrangement of leaves on a plant stem .- Pattern structure :...
on the stem, often plicate, and have no stipule
Stipule
In botany, stipule is a term coined by Linnaeus which refers to outgrowths borne on either side of the base of a leafstalk...
s. Orchid leaves often have siliceous bodies called stegmata in the vascular bundle
Vascular bundle
A vascular bundle is a part of the transport system in vascular plants. The transport itself happens in vascular tissue, which exists in two forms: xylem and phloem. Both these tissues are present in a vascular bundle, which in addition will include supporting and protective tissues...
sheaths (not present in the Orchidoideae
Orchidoideae
The Orchidoideae, or the orchidoid orchids, are a subfamily of the orchid family .They typically contain the orchids with a single , fertile anther which is erect and basitonic....
) and are fibrous.
The structure of the leaves corresponds to the specific habitat of the plant. Species that typically bask in sunlight, or grow on sites which can be occasionally very dry, have thick, leathery leaves and the laminae are covered by a waxy cuticle
Plant cuticle
Plant cuticles are a protective waxy covering produced only by the epidermal cells of leaves, young shoots and all other aerial plant organs without periderm...
to retain their necessary water supply. Shade species, on the other hand, have long, thin leaves.
The leaves of most orchids are perennial, that is, they live for several years, while others, especially those with plicate leaves, shed them annually and develop new leaves together with new pseudobulbs, as in Catasetum
Catasetum
Catasetum, abbreviated as Ctsm in horticultural trade, is a genus of the Orchid family , subfamily Epidendroideae, tribe Cymbidieae, subtribe Catasetinae, with 166 species....
.
The leaves of some orchids are considered ornamental. The leaves of the Macodes sanderiana, a semiterrestrial or lithophyte, show a sparkling silver and gold veining on a light green background. The cordate leaves of Psychopsiella limminghei are light brownish-green with maroon-puce markings, created by flower pigments. The attractive mottle of the leaves of lady's slipper
Lady's Slipper
Lady's slipper orchids, lady slipper orchids or slipper orchids are the orchids in the subfamily Cypripedioidea, which includes the genera Cypripedium, Mexipedium, Paphiopedilum, Phragmipedium and Selenipedium...
s from tropical and subtropical Asia (Paphiopedilum
Paphiopedilum
The paphiopedilums – often abbreviated Paph and colloquially known as paphs in horticulture – are flowering plants in the orchid family . It contains about 80 accepted species nowadays, some of which are natural hybrids...
), is caused by uneven distribution of chlorophyll. Also, Phalaenopsis schilleriana is a pastel pink orchid with leaves spotted dark green and light green. The jewel orchid (Ludisia discolor) is grown more for its colorful leaves than its white flowers.
Some orchids, as Dendrophylax lindenii (ghost orchid), Aphyllorchis
Aphyllorchis
Aphyllorchis, commonly Pauper Orchids, is a genus of 30 species of terrestrial leafless orchids native to South Asia, Southeast Asia and Australia.-List of species:...
and Taeniophyllum
Taeniophyllum
Taeniophyllum is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae.- References :*Pridgeon, A.M., Cribb, P.J., Chase, M.A. & Rasmussen, F. eds. . Genera Orchidacearum 1. Oxford Univ. Press....
depend on their green roots for photosynthesis
Photosynthesis
Photosynthesis is a chemical process that converts carbon dioxide into organic compounds, especially sugars, using the energy from sunlight. Photosynthesis occurs in plants, algae, and many species of bacteria, but not in archaea. Photosynthetic organisms are called photoautotrophs, since they can...
and lack normally developed leaves, as do all of the heterotrophic species.
Orchids of the genus Corallorhiza (coralroot orchids) lack leaves altogether and instead wrap their roots around the roots of mature trees and use specialized fungi to harvest sugars.
Flowers
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
s.
Some orchids have single flowers, but most have a racemose inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
, sometimes with a large number of flowers. The flowering stem can be basal, that is, produced from the base of the tuber, like in Cymbidium
Cymbidium
Cymbidium , or boat orchids, is a genus of 52 evergreen species in the orchid family Orchidaceae. It was first described by Olof Swartz in 1799. The name is derived from the Greek word kumbos, meaning 'hole, cavity'. It refers to the form of the base of the lip...
, apical, meaning it grows from the apex of the main stem, like in Cattleya
Cattleya
Cattleya is a genus of 113 species of orchids from Costa Rica to tropical South America. The genus was named in 1824 by John Lindley after Sir William Cattley who received and successfully cultivated specimens of Cattleya labiata that were used as packing material in a shipment of other orchids...
, or axillary, from the leaf axil, as in Vanda.
As an apomorphy of the clade
Clade
A clade is a group consisting of a species and all its descendants. In the terms of biological systematics, a clade is a single "branch" on the "tree of life". The idea that such a "natural group" of organisms should be grouped together and given a taxonomic name is central to biological...
, orchid flowers are primitively zygomorphic (bilaterally symmetrical), although in some genera like Mormodes
Mormodes
Mormodes, abbreviated as Morm. in the horticultural trade, is a genus of exactly 70 species of terrestrial and epiphyte orchids native to Central America and South America.-List of species:...
, Ludisia
Ludisia
Ludisia is a genus of orchid commonly referred to as a jewel orchid.-Ludisia discolor:Ludisia discolor is the most common of the Ludisia genus, and includes two notable, naturally-occurring mutations....
and Macodes
Macodes
Macodes is one of a few genera of the orchid family known as jewel orchids. These terrestrial orchids grows in the rainforest floor of Southeast Asia with high humidity and low light. The plant is cultivated for the veined leaves, unlike other orchids that are valued for the flowers....
, this kind of symmetry may be difficult to notice.
The orchid flower, like most flowers of monocots, has two whorls of sterile elements. The outer whorl has three sepal
Sepal
A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...
s and the inner whorl has three petal
Petal
Petals are modified leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They often are brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. Together, all of the petals of a flower are called a corolla. Petals are usually accompanied by another set of special leaves called sepals lying...
s. The sepals are usually very similar to the petals (and thus called tepals, 1), but may be completely distinct.
The upper medial petal, called the labellum
Labellum
Labellum is the Latin diminutive of labium, meaning lip. These are anatomical terms used descriptively in biology, for example in Entomology and botany.-Botany:...
or lip (6), is always modified and enlarged. The inferior ovary
Ovary
The ovary is an ovum-producing reproductive organ, often found in pairs as part of the vertebrate female reproductive system. Ovaries in anatomically female individuals are analogous to testes in anatomically male individuals, in that they are both gonads and endocrine glands.-Human anatomy:Ovaries...
(7) or the pedicel
Pedicel (botany)
A pedicel is a stem that attaches single flowers to the main stem of the inflorescence. It is the branches or stalks that hold each flower in an inflorescence that contains more than one flower....
usually rotates 180 degrees, so that the labellum, goes on the lower part of the flower, thus becoming suitable to form a platform for pollinators. This characteristic, called resupination
Resupination
Resupination generally means being upside-down, supine, facing upward. The word is derived from the Latin. In a biological context, the concept is commonly expressed with the adjectives "resupinate" or "non-resupinate."-Examples in green plants:...
, occurs primitively in the family and is considered apomorphic (the torsion of the ovary is very evident from the picture). Some orchids have secondarily lost this resupination, e. g. Zygopetalum
Zygopetalum
Zygopetalum , is a genus of the orchid family , consisting of fourteen species....
and Epidendrum secundum
Epidendrum secundum
Epidendrum secundum, one of the crucifix orchids, is a poorly understood reed stemmed species, which Dressler describes as "the Epidendrum secundum complex." According to Dressler, there are dozens of varieties, some of which appear to deserve species rank...
.
The normal form of the sepals can be found in Cattleya
Cattleya
Cattleya is a genus of 113 species of orchids from Costa Rica to tropical South America. The genus was named in 1824 by John Lindley after Sir William Cattley who received and successfully cultivated specimens of Cattleya labiata that were used as packing material in a shipment of other orchids...
, where they form a triangle. In Paphiopedilum
Paphiopedilum
The paphiopedilums – often abbreviated Paph and colloquially known as paphs in horticulture – are flowering plants in the orchid family . It contains about 80 accepted species nowadays, some of which are natural hybrids...
(Venus slippers), the lower two sepals are fused into a synsepal
Synsepal
A synsepal is a floral structure formed by the partial or complete fusion of two or more sepals. Such sepals are said to be gamosepalous....
, while the lip has taken the form of a slipper. In Masdevallia
Masdevallia
Masdevallia, abbreviated Masd in horticultural trade, is a large genus of flowering plants of the Pleurothallidinae, a subtribe of the orchid family . There are over 500 species, grouped into several subgenera...
, all the sepals are fused.
Orchid flowers with abnormal numbers of petals or lips are called peloric. Peloria is a genetic trait, but its expression is environmentally influenced and may appear random.
Stamen
The stamen is the pollen producing reproductive organ of a flower...
s, but this situation is now limited to the genus Neuwiedia
Neuwiedia
Neuwiedia is a genus of primitive orchids , comprising 9 terrestrial species.The type species is Neuwiedia veratrifolia Blume 1834...
. Apostasia and the Cypripedioideae have two stamens, the central one being sterile and reduced to a staminode
Staminode
In botany, a staminode is an often rudimentary, sterile or abortive stamen. This means that it does not produce pollen. Staminodes are frequently inconspicuous and stamen-like, usually occurring at the inner whorl of the flower, but are also sometimes long enough to protrude from the...
. All of the other orchids, the clade called Monandria, retain only the central stamen, the others being reduced to staminode
Staminode
In botany, a staminode is an often rudimentary, sterile or abortive stamen. This means that it does not produce pollen. Staminodes are frequently inconspicuous and stamen-like, usually occurring at the inner whorl of the flower, but are also sometimes long enough to protrude from the...
s (4). The filaments of the stamen
Stamen
The stamen is the pollen producing reproductive organ of a flower...
s are always adnate
Adnation
Adnation in plants is the "union of unlike parts; organically united or fused with another dissimilar part, e.g. an ovary to a calyx tube, or stamens to petals". This is in contrast to connation, the fusion of similar organs....
(fused) to the style to form cylindrical structure called the gynostemium or column
Column (botany)
The column, or technically the gynostemium, is a reproductive structure that can be found in several plant families: Aristolochiaceae, Orchidaceae, and Stylidiaceae....
(2). In the primitive Apostasioideae
Apostasioideae
In plant systematics Apostasioideae is one of the five subfamilies recognised within the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Only two genera, Neuwidia and Apostasia and 15 species are recognised within the Apostasioideae in contrast to the other orchid subfamilies which are highly speciose.The...
, this fusion is only partial; in the Vanilloideae
Vanilloideae
Vanilloideae is one of the subfamilies of orchids belonging to the large family Orchidaceae.Lindley and even Garay used to treat it as a separate family Vanillaceae. But their single, incumbent anther and poorly organised pollinia led to their recognition as at best a subgroup of monandrous...
, it is more deep; in Orchidoideae
Orchidoideae
The Orchidoideae, or the orchidoid orchids, are a subfamily of the orchid family .They typically contain the orchids with a single , fertile anther which is erect and basitonic....
and Epidendroideae
Epidendroideae
In plant systematics Epidendroideae is a subfamily of the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Epidendroideae is larger than all the other orchid subfamilies together, comprising more than 15,000 species in 576 genera. Most Epidendroid orchids are tropical epiphytes, typically with pseudobulbs...
, it is total. The stigma (9) is very asymmetrical, as all of its lobes are bent towards the centre of the flower and lay on the bottom of the column.
Pollen
Pollen
Pollen is a fine to coarse powder containing the microgametophytes of seed plants, which produce the male gametes . Pollen grains have a hard coat that protects the sperm cells during the process of their movement from the stamens to the pistil of flowering plants or from the male cone to the...
is released as single grains, like in most other plants, in the Apostasioideae
Apostasioideae
In plant systematics Apostasioideae is one of the five subfamilies recognised within the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Only two genera, Neuwidia and Apostasia and 15 species are recognised within the Apostasioideae in contrast to the other orchid subfamilies which are highly speciose.The...
, Cypripedioideae and Vanilloideae
Vanilloideae
Vanilloideae is one of the subfamilies of orchids belonging to the large family Orchidaceae.Lindley and even Garay used to treat it as a separate family Vanillaceae. But their single, incumbent anther and poorly organised pollinia led to their recognition as at best a subgroup of monandrous...
. In the other subfamilies, that comprise the great majority of orchids, the anther (3), carries and two pollinia
Pollinium
Pollinium, or plural pollinia, is a coherent mass of pollen grains in a plant.They are the product of only one anther, but are transferred, during pollination, as a single unit. This is regularly seen in plants such as orchids and many species of milkweeds .Most orchids have waxy pollinia...
.
A pollinium is a waxy mass of pollen grains held together by the glue-like alkaloid
Alkaloid
Alkaloids are a group of naturally occurring chemical compounds that contain mostly basic nitrogen atoms. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Also some synthetic compounds of similar structure are attributed to alkaloids...
viscin, containing both cellulosic strands and mucopolysaccharides. Each pollinium is connected to a filament which can take the form of a caudicle, as in Dactylorhiza
Dactylorhiza
Dactylorhiza , is a genus of terrestrial plants in the orchid family ....
or Habenaria
Habenaria
Habenaria, commonly called bog orchids, are a far ranging genus of orchid, one of approximately 800 described Orchidaceae genera within that large and diverse family. There are species in both tropical and temperate zones.-Description:...
, or a stipe
Stipe (botany)
In botany, a stipe is a stalk that supports some other structure. The precise meaning is different depending on which taxonomic group is being described....
, as in Vanda. Caudicles or stipes hold the pollinia to the viscidium, a sticky pad which sticks the pollinia to the body of pollinator
Pollinator
A pollinator is the biotic agent that moves pollen from the male anthers of a flower to the female stigma of a flower to accomplish fertilization or syngamy of the female gamete in the ovule of the flower by the male gamete from the pollen grain...
s.
At the upper edge of the stigma of single-anthered orchids, in front of the anther cap, there is the rostellum
Rostellum
The rostellum is a projecting part of the column in Orchidaceae flowers, and separates the male stamen from the female gynoecium, commonly preventing self-fertilisation...
(5), a slender extension involved in the complex pollination mechanism.
As aforementioned, the ovary
Ovary (plants)
In the flowering plants, an ovary is a part of the female reproductive organ of the flower or gynoecium. Specifically, it is the part of the pistil which holds the ovule and is located above or below or at the point of connection with the base of the petals and sepals...
is always inferior (located behind the flower). It is three-carpelate and one or, more rarely, three-partitioned, with parietal placenta
Placenta
The placenta is an organ that connects the developing fetus to the uterine wall to allow nutrient uptake, waste elimination, and gas exchange via the mother's blood supply. "True" placentas are a defining characteristic of eutherian or "placental" mammals, but are also found in some snakes and...
tion (axile in the Apostasioideae
Apostasioideae
In plant systematics Apostasioideae is one of the five subfamilies recognised within the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Only two genera, Neuwidia and Apostasia and 15 species are recognised within the Apostasioideae in contrast to the other orchid subfamilies which are highly speciose.The...
).
In 2011, a member of the genus Bulbophyllum
Bulbophyllum
Bulbophyllum is the largest genus in the orchid family Orchidaceae. With more than 2,000 species, it is also one of the largest genera of flowering plants, exceeded only by Astragalus...
, Bulbophyllum nocturnum
Bulbophyllum nocturnum
Bulbophyllum nocturnum is a species of epiphytic orchid that grows in New Britain. It was described in 2011, and is the first species of orchid known to consistently flower during the night, and close its flowers during the day.-Distribution:...
, was discovered to flower nocturnally.
Fruits and Seeds
Capsule (fruit)
In botany a capsule is a type of simple, dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. A capsule is a structure composed of two or more carpels that in most cases is dehiscent, i.e. at maturity, it splits apart to release the seeds within. A few capsules are indehiscent, for example...
that is dehiscent by three or six longitudinal slits, while remaining closed at both ends. The ripening
Ripening
Ripening is a process in fruits that causes them to become more palatable. In general, a fruit becomes sweeter, less green, and softer as it ripens. Even though the acidity of fruit increases as it ripens, the higher acidity level does not make the fruit seem tarter, which can lead to the...
of a capsule can take two to 18 months.
The seed
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
s are generally almost microscopic and very numerous, in some species over a million per capsule. After ripening, they blow off like dust particles or spores. They lack endosperm
Endosperm
Endosperm is the tissue produced inside the seeds of most flowering plants around the time of fertilization. It surrounds the embryo and provides nutrition in the form of starch, though it can also contain oils and protein. This makes endosperm an important source of nutrition in human diet...
and must enter symbiotic relationships with various mycorrhizal
Orchid mycorrhiza
Orchid mycorrhizae are symbiotic relationships between the roots of plants of the family Orchidaceae and a variety of fungi. All orchids are myco-heterotrophic at some point in their life cycle. Orchid mycorrhizae are critically important during orchid germination, as orchid seed has virtually no...
basidiomyceteous fungi that provide them the necessary nutrients to germinate, so that all orchid species are mycoheterotrophic during germination and reliant upon fungi to complete their lifecycles.
As the chance for a seed to meet a fitting fungus is very small, only a minute fraction of all the seeds released grow into adult plants. In cultivation, germination typically takes weeks, while there is a report of one paphiopedilum that took fifteen years.
Horticultural techniques have been devised for germinating seeds on a nutrient-containing gel, eliminating the requirement of the fungus for germination, greatly aiding the propagation of ornamental orchids.
The main component for the sowing of orchids in artificial conditions is the agar agar. The substance is put together with some type of carbohydrate
Carbohydrate
A carbohydrate is an organic compound with the empirical formula ; that is, consists only of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, with a hydrogen:oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 . However, there are exceptions to this. One common example would be deoxyribose, a component of DNA, which has the empirical...
(actually, some kind of glucose
Glucose
Glucose is a simple sugar and an important carbohydrate in biology. Cells use it as the primary source of energy and a metabolic intermediate...
) which provides qualitative organic feed. Such substance may be banana
Banana
Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....
, pineapple
Pineapple
Pineapple is the common name for a tropical plant and its edible fruit, which is actually a multiple fruit consisting of coalesced berries. It was given the name pineapple due to its resemblance to a pine cone. The pineapple is by far the most economically important plant in the Bromeliaceae...
, peach
Peach
The peach tree is a deciduous tree growing to tall and 6 in. in diameter, belonging to the subfamily Prunoideae of the family Rosaceae. It bears an edible juicy fruit called a peach...
or even tomato
Tomato
The word "tomato" may refer to the plant or the edible, typically red, fruit which it bears. Originating in South America, the tomato was spread around the world following the Spanish colonization of the Americas, and its many varieties are now widely grown, often in greenhouses in cooler...
puree or coconut milk
Coconut milk
Coconut milk is the water that comes from the grated meat of a coconut. The colour and rich taste of the milk can be attributed to the high oil content. In many parts of the world, the term coconut milk is also used to refer to coconut water, the naturally occurring liquid found inside the hollow...
. After the "cooking" of the agar agar (it has to be cooked in sterile conditions), the mix is poured into test tubes or jars where the substance begins to gel.
Pollination
The complex mechanisms which orchids have evolved to achieve cross-pollinationAllogamy
Allogamy is a term used in the field of biological reproduction describing the fertilization of an ovum from one individual with the spermatozoa of another. By contrast, autogamy is the term used for self-fertilization. In humans, the fertilization event is an instance of allogamy...
were investigated by Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
and described in his 1862 book Fertilisation of Orchids
Fertilisation of Orchids
Fertilisation of Orchids is a book by Charles Darwin published on 15 May 1862 under the full explanatory title On the various contrivances by which British and foreign orchids are fertilised by insects, and on the good effects of intercrossing...
. Orchids have developed highly specialized pollination
Pollination
Pollination is the process by which pollen is transferred in plants, thereby enabling fertilisation and sexual reproduction. Pollen grains transport the male gametes to where the female gamete are contained within the carpel; in gymnosperms the pollen is directly applied to the ovule itself...
systems, thus the chances of being pollinated are often scarce, so orchid flowers usually remain receptive for very long periods, and most orchids deliver pollen in a single mass. Each time pollination succeeds, thousands of ovules can be fertilized.
Pollinators are often visually attracted by the shape and colours of the labellum. The flowers may produce attractive odours. Although absent in most species, nectar may be produced in a spur
Spur (biology)
A spur in botany is a spike, usually part of a flower.In certain plants, part of a sepal or petal develops into an elongated hollow spike extending behind the flower, containing nectar which is sucked by long-tongued animals . Plants with such structures include Delphinium, Aquilegia, Piperia, and...
(8) of the labellum, on the point of the sepals or in the septa of the ovary, the most typical position amongst the Asparagales
Asparagales
Asparagales is the name of an order of plants, used in modern classification systems such as the APG III system . The order takes its name from the family Asparagaceae and is placed in the monocots. The order has only recently been recognized in classification systems...
.
In orchids that produce pollinia, pollination happens as some variant of the following. When the pollinator enters into the flower, it touches a viscidium, which promptly sticks to its body, generally on the head or abdomen. While leaving the flower, it pulls the pollinium out of the anther, as it is connected to the viscidium by the caudicle or stipe. The caudicle then bends and the pollinium is moved forwards and downwards. When the pollinator enters another flower of the same species, the pollinium has taken such position that it will stick to the stigma of the second flower, just below the rostellum, pollinating it. The possessors of orchids may be able to reproduce the process with a pencil, small paintbrush, or other similar device.
Self-pollination
Self-pollination is a form of pollination that can occur when a flower has both stamen and a carpel in which the cultivar or species is self fertile and the stamens and the sticky stigma of the carpel contact each other in order to accomplish pollination...
, especially in colder regions where pollinators are particularly rare. The caudicles may dry up if the flower has not been visited by any pollinator, and the pollinia then fall directly on the stigma. Otherwise, the anther may rotate and then enter the stigma cavity of the flower (as in Holcoglossum amesianum).
The labellum of the Cypripedioideae is poke-shaped, and has the function to trap visiting insects. The only exit leads to the anthers that deposit pollen on the visitor.
In some extremely specialized orchids, such as the Eurasian genus Ophrys
Ophrys
The genus Ophrys is a large group of orchids from the alliance Orchis in the subtribe Orchidinae. There are many natural hybrids. The type species is Ophrys insectifera L.1753...
, the labellum is adapted to have a colour, shape and odour which attracts male insects via mimicry of a receptive female. Pollination happens as the insect attempts to mate with flowers.
Many neotropical orchids are pollinated by male orchid bees
Euglossini
Euglossine bees, also called orchid bees, are the only group of corbiculate bees whose non-parasitic members do not all possess eusocial behavior. Most of the species are solitary, though a few are communal, or exhibit simple forms of eusociality...
, which visit the flowers to gather volatile chemicals they require to synthesize pheromonal
Pheromone
A pheromone is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting outside the body of the secreting individual to impact the behavior of the receiving individual...
attractants. Each type of orchid places the pollinia on a different body part of a different species of bee, so as to enforce proper cross-pollination.
An underground orchid in Australia, Rhizanthella slateri
Rhizanthella slateri
Rhizanthella slateri, or the Eastern Underground Orchid, is a terrestrial saprophytic orchid with fleshy underground stem to 15 cm long and 15 mm diameter.A synonym is Cryptanthemis slateri Rupp ....
, is never exposed to light, and depends on ant
Ant
Ants are social insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago and diversified after the rise of flowering plants. More than...
s and other terrestrial insects to pollinate it.
Catasetum
Catasetum
Catasetum, abbreviated as Ctsm in horticultural trade, is a genus of the Orchid family , subfamily Epidendroideae, tribe Cymbidieae, subtribe Catasetinae, with 166 species....
, a genus discussed briefly by Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
, actually launches its viscid pollinia with explosive force when an insect touches a seta
Seta
Seta is a biological term derived from the Latin word for "bristle". It refers to a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms.-Animal setae:In zoology, most "setae" occur in invertebrates....
, knocking the pollinator off the flower.
After pollination, the sepals and petals fade and wilt, but they usually remain attached to the ovary.
Asexual Reproduction
Some species, such as PhalaenopsisPhalaenopsis
Phalaenopsis Blume , abbreviated Phal in the horticultural trade, is an orchid genus of approximately 60 species. Phalaenopsis is one of the most popular orchids in the trade, through the development of many artificial hybrids....
, Dendrobium
Dendrobium
Dendrobium is a huge genus of orchids. It was established by Olof Swartz in 1799 and today contains about 1,200 species. The genus occurs in diverse habitats throughout much of south, east and southeast Asia, including the Philippines, Borneo, Australia, New Guinea, Solomon Islands and New Zealand...
and Vanda, produce offshoots or plantlets formed from one of the nodes along the stem
Plant stem
A stem is one of two main structural axes of a vascular plant. The stem is normally divided into nodes and internodes, the nodes hold buds which grow into one or more leaves, inflorescence , conifer cones, roots, other stems etc. The internodes distance one node from another...
, through the accumulation of growth hormones at that point. These shoots are known as keiki
Keiki
Keiki is the Hawaiian word for "baby" or "child", literally meaning "the little one". In horticulture, it refers to a plant produced asexually by an orchid plant, usually used when referring to Dendrobium, Epidendrum , and Phalaenopsis orchids...
.
Evolution
A study in the scientific journal NatureNature (journal)
Nature, first published on 4 November 1869, is ranked the world's most cited interdisciplinary scientific journal by the Science Edition of the 2010 Journal Citation Reports...
has hypothesized that the origin of orchids goes back much longer than originally expected. An extinct species of stingless bee, Proplebeia dominicana, was found trapped in Miocene
Miocene
The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...
amber
Amber
Amber is fossilized tree resin , which has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Amber is used as an ingredient in perfumes, as a healing agent in folk medicine, and as jewelry. There are five classes of amber, defined on the basis of their chemical constituents...
from about 15-20 million years ago. The bee was carrying pollen
Pollen
Pollen is a fine to coarse powder containing the microgametophytes of seed plants, which produce the male gametes . Pollen grains have a hard coat that protects the sperm cells during the process of their movement from the stamens to the pistil of flowering plants or from the male cone to the...
of a previously unknown orchid taxon, Meliorchis caribea
Meliorchis caribea
Meliorchis caribea is an extinct species of plant belonging to the Orchidaceae family. It is the earliest known orchid.-Source:*BBC News on August 29, 2007...
, on its wings. This find is the first evidence of fossilised orchids to date. The extinct orchid M. caribea has been placed within the extant tribe Cranichideae, subtribe Goodyerinae (subfamily Orchidoideae
Orchidoideae
The Orchidoideae, or the orchidoid orchids, are a subfamily of the orchid family .They typically contain the orchids with a single , fertile anther which is erect and basitonic....
).
This indicates orchids may have arisen 76 to 84 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous period is divided in the geologic timescale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous series...
. In other words, they may have coexisted with dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
s. It also shows insects were active pollinator
Pollinator
A pollinator is the biotic agent that moves pollen from the male anthers of a flower to the female stigma of a flower to accomplish fertilization or syngamy of the female gamete in the ovule of the flower by the male gamete from the pollen grain...
s of orchids then. According to Chase et al. (2001), the overall biogeography and phylogenetic patterns of Orchidaceae show they are even older and may go back roughly 100 million years.
Using the molecular clock
Molecular clock
The molecular clock is a technique in molecular evolution that uses fossil constraints and rates of molecular change to deduce the time in geologic history when two species or other taxa diverged. It is used to estimate the time of occurrence of events called speciation or radiation...
method, it was possible to determine the age of the major branches of the orchid family. This also confirmed that the subfamily Vanilloideae
Vanilloideae
Vanilloideae is one of the subfamilies of orchids belonging to the large family Orchidaceae.Lindley and even Garay used to treat it as a separate family Vanillaceae. But their single, incumbent anther and poorly organised pollinia led to their recognition as at best a subgroup of monandrous...
is a branch at the basal dichotomy of the monandrous
Monandrous
- In orchids :A distinction between monandrous and other flowers is particularly relevant in the classification of orchids. The monandrous orchids form a clade consisting of the subfamilies Orchidoideae, Vanilloideae, and Epidendroideae. The other subfamilies, Apostasioideae and Cypripedioideae,...
orchids, and must have evolved very early in the evolution of the family. Since this genus occurs worldwide in tropical and subtropical regions, from tropical America to tropical Asia, New Guinea and West Africa, and the continents began to split about 100 million years ago, significant biotic exchange must have occurred after this split (since the age of Vanilla is estimated at 60 to 70 million years).
Ecology
A majority of orchids are perennialPerennial plant
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter lived annuals and biennials. The term is sometimes misused by commercial gardeners or horticulturalists to describe only herbaceous perennials...
epiphyte
Epiphyte
An epiphyte is a plant that grows upon another plant non-parasitically or sometimes upon some other object , derives its moisture and nutrients from the air and rain and sometimes from debris accumulating around it, and is found in the temperate zone and in the...
s, which grow anchored to tree
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
s or shrub
Shrub
A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
s in the tropics
Tropics
The tropics is a region of the Earth surrounding the Equator. It is limited in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere at approximately N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere at S; these latitudes correspond to the axial tilt of the Earth...
and subtropics. Species such as Angraecum
Angraecum
The genus Angraecum, abbreviated as Angcm in horticultural trade, common name Angrek or Comet Orchid, contains about 220 species, some of them among most magnificent of all orchids. They are quite varied vegetatively and florally and are adapted to dry tropical woodland habitat and have quite...
sororium are lithophyte
Lithophyte
Lithophytes are a type of plant that grows in or on rocks. Lithophytes feed off moss, nutrients in rain water, litter, and even their own dead tissue....
s, growing on rocks or very rocky soil. Other orchids (including the majority of temperate
Temperate
In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally relatively moderate, rather than extreme hot or cold...
Orchidaceae) are terrestrial and can be found in habitat areas such as grasslands or forest.
Some orchids, such as Neottia and Corallorhiza, lack chlorophyll
Chlorophyll
Chlorophyll is a green pigment found in almost all plants, algae, and cyanobacteria. Its name is derived from the Greek words χλωρος, chloros and φύλλον, phyllon . Chlorophyll is an extremely important biomolecule, critical in photosynthesis, which allows plants to obtain energy from light...
, so are unable to photosynthesize. Instead, these species obtain energy and nutrients by parasitising
Parasitism
Parasitism is a type of symbiotic relationship between organisms of different species where one organism, the parasite, benefits at the expense of the other, the host. Traditionally parasite referred to organisms with lifestages that needed more than one host . These are now called macroparasites...
soil fungi through the formation of orchid mycorrhiza
Orchid mycorrhiza
Orchid mycorrhizae are symbiotic relationships between the roots of plants of the family Orchidaceae and a variety of fungi. All orchids are myco-heterotrophic at some point in their life cycle. Orchid mycorrhizae are critically important during orchid germination, as orchid seed has virtually no...
s. The fungi involved include those that form ectomycorrhizas with trees and other woody plants, parasites such as Armillaria, and saprotrophs. These orchids are known as myco-heterotrophs, but were formerly (incorrectly) described as saprophytes due to the belief that they gained their nutrition by breaking down organic matter. While only a few species are achlorophyllous holoparasite
Parasitic plant
A parasitic plant is one that derives some or all of its sustenance from another plant. About 4,100 species in approximately 19 families of flowering plants are known. Parasitic plants have a modified root, the haustorium, that penetrates the host plant and connects to the xylem, phloem, or...
s, all orchids are myco-heterotrophic during germination and seedling growth, and even photosynthetic adult plants may continue to obtain carbon from their mycorrhiza
Mycorrhiza
A mycorrhiza is a symbiotic association between a fungus and the roots of a vascular plant....
l fungi.
Uses
Vanilla
Vanilla is a flavoring derived from orchids of the genus Vanilla, primarily from the Mexican species, Flat-leaved Vanilla . The word vanilla derives from the Spanish word "", little pod...
, are commercially important as flavoring in baking
Baking
Baking is the technique of prolonged cooking of food by dry heat acting by convection, and not by radiation, normally in an oven, but also in hot ashes, or on hot stones. It is primarily used for the preparation of bread, cakes, pastries and pies, tarts, quiches, cookies and crackers. Such items...
, for perfume
Perfume
Perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils and/or aroma compounds, fixatives, and solvents used to give the human body, animals, objects, and living spaces "a pleasant scent"...
manufacture and aromatherapy
Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy is a form of alternative medicine that uses volatile plant materials, known as essential oils, and other aromatic compounds for the purpose of altering a person's mind, mood, cognitive function or health....
.
The underground tubers of terrestrial orchids [mainly Orchis mascula (early purple orchid)] are ground to a powder and used for cooking, such as in the hot beverage salep
Salep
Salep is a flour made from grinding the dried tubers of the orchid genus Orchis . These tubers contain a nutritious starch-like polysaccharide called glucomannan. Salep flour is consumed today in beverages and desserts, primarily in Turkey and in places that were formerly part of the Ottoman...
or in the Turkish frozen treat dondurma. The name salep has been claimed to come from the Arabic expression ḥasyu al-tha`lab, "fox testicles", but it appears more likely the name comes directly from the Arabic name saḥlab. The similarity in appearance to testes naturally accounts for salep being considered an aphrodisiac.
The dried leaves of Jumellea fragrans are used to flavor rum on Reunion Island.
The scent of orchids is frequently analysed by perfumer
Perfumer
A perfumer is a term used for an expert on creating perfume compositions, sometimes referred to affectionately as a Nose due to their fine sense of smell and skill in producing olfactory compositions...
s (using headspace technology
Headspace technology
Headspace technology is a technique developed in the 1980s to elucidate the odor compounds present in the air surrounding various objects. Usually the objects of interest are odoriferous objects such as plants, flowers and foods. Similar techniques are also used to analyze the interesting scents...
and gas-liquid chromatography
Gas-liquid chromatography
Gas chromatography , is a common type of chromatography used in analytical chemistry for separating and analysing compounds that can be vaporized without decomposition. Typical uses of GC include testing the purity of a particular substance, or separating the different components of a mixture...
) to identify potential fragrance chemicals.
The other important use of orchids is their cultivation for the enjoyment of the flowers. Most cultivated orchids are tropical
Tropics
The tropics is a region of the Earth surrounding the Equator. It is limited in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere at approximately N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere at S; these latitudes correspond to the axial tilt of the Earth...
or subtropical
Subtropics
The subtropics are the geographical and climatical zone of the Earth immediately north and south of the tropical zone, which is bounded by the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, at latitudes 23.5°N and 23.5°S...
, but quite a few which grow in colder climates can be found on the market. Temperate species available at nurseries include Ophrys apifera
Bee Orchid
The Bee Orchid is an herbaceous perennial plant belonging to the family Orchidaceae.-Etymology:The name "Ophrys" derives from the Greek word "ophrys", meaning "eyebrow", while the Latin name of the species "apifera" refers to the bee-shaped lip.-Description: The Bee Orchid grows to a height of ....
(bee orchid), Gymnadenia conopsea
Fragrant orchid
Fragrant Orchid is an herbaceous plant belonging to the family Orchidaceae.-Etymology:The name of the genus Gymnodenia is formed from Greek words "gymnos" meaning "nude" and "adèn" meaning "gland" and refers to the characteristics of the organs for secreting nectar...
(fragrant orchid), Anacamptis pyramidalis
Pyramidal orchid
The Pyramidal Orchid, Anacamptis pyramidalis, is an herbaceous perennial plant belonging to the Genus Anacamptis of the family Orchidaceae...
(pyramidal orchid) and Dactylorhiza fuchsii
Common spotted orchid
The Common Spotted-orchid is acommonly occurring species of European orchid. It is widely variable in colour and height, ranging from 15 to 60 cm in height. The flower colour can vary from white to pale purple with purple spots. The lip has three lobes...
(common spotted orchid).
Orchids of all types have also often been sought by collectors of both species and hybrids. As such, many hundreds of societies and clubs worldwide have been established. These can be small, local clubs such as the Sutherland Shire Orchid Society, or larger, national organisations such as the American Orchid Society. Both serve to encourage cultivation and collection of orchids, but some go further by concentrating on conservation or research.
The term "botanical orchid" loosely denotes those small-flowered, tropical orchids belonging to several genera (not necessarily related to each other) that do not fit into the "florist" orchid category. A few of these genera contain enormous numbers of species. Some, such as Pleurothallis and Bulbophyllum
Bulbophyllum
Bulbophyllum is the largest genus in the orchid family Orchidaceae. With more than 2,000 species, it is also one of the largest genera of flowering plants, exceeded only by Astragalus...
, contain approximately 1700 and 2000 species, respectively, and are often extremely vegetatively diverse. The primary use of the term is among orchid hobbyists wishing to describe unusual species they grow, though it is also used to distinguish naturally occurring orchid species from horticulturally created hybrids.
Traditional Medicinal Uses
Orchids have been used in traditional medicineTraditional medicine
Traditional medicine comprises unscientific knowledge systems that developed over generations within various societies before the era of modern medicine...
in an effort to treat many diseases and ailments. They have been used as a source of herbal remedies in China since 2800 BC. Gastrodia elata
Gastrodia elata
Gastrodia elata is a saprophytic perrenial herb of the Orchidaceae family. It is found in Nepal, Bhutan, India, Japan , North Korean, Siberia, Taiwan as well as mainland China...
is one of the three orchids listed in the earliest known Chinese Materia Medica (Shennon bencaojing) (c. 100 AD). Theophrastus
Theophrastus
Theophrastus , a Greek native of Eresos in Lesbos, was the successor to Aristotle in the Peripatetic school. He came to Athens at a young age, and initially studied in Plato's school. After Plato's death he attached himself to Aristotle. Aristotle bequeathed to Theophrastus his writings, and...
mentions orchids in his Enquiry into Plants (372–286 BC).
In the recent years, a number of studies have been published on anticancer activity of the chemical moscatilin, which is found in the stems of the orchid species Dendrobrium
Dendrobium
Dendrobium is a huge genus of orchids. It was established by Olof Swartz in 1799 and today contains about 1,200 species. The genus occurs in diverse habitats throughout much of south, east and southeast Asia, including the Philippines, Borneo, Australia, New Guinea, Solomon Islands and New Zealand...
.
Symbolism
Orchids have many associations with symbolic values. For example, the orchid is the City Flower of ShaoxingShaoxing
Shaoxing is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. Located on the south bank of the Qiantang River estuary, it borders Ningbo to the east, Taizhou to the southeast, Jinhua to the southwest, and Hangzhou to the west. It was once known as "越"...
, China.
In Chinese culture
Culture of China
Chinese culture is one of the world's oldest and most complex. The area in which the culture is dominant covers a large geographical region in eastern Asia with customs and traditions varying greatly between towns, cities and provinces...
, the bamboo
Bamboo
Bamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....
, plum blossom, orchid, and chrysanthemum
Chrysanthemum
Chrysanthemums, often called mums or chrysanths, are of the genus constituting approximately 30 species of perennial flowering plants in the family Asteraceae which is native to Asia and northeastern Europe.-Etymology:...
(often known as méi lán zhú jú 梅兰竹菊) are collectively referred to as the Four Gentlemen
Four Gentlemen
The Four Gentlemen, also called the Four Noble Ones, in Chinese art refers to four plants: the orchid, the bamboo, the chrysanthemum, and the plum blossom. The term compares the four plants to Confucianist junzi, or "gentlemen"...
. These four plants also represent the four season
Season
A season is a division of the year, marked by changes in weather, ecology, and hours of daylight.Seasons result from the yearly revolution of the Earth around the Sun and the tilt of the Earth's axis relative to the plane of revolution...
s and, in Confucian
Confucianism
Confucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius . Confucianism originated as an "ethical-sociopolitical teaching" during the Spring and Autumn Period, but later developed metaphysical and cosmological elements in the Han...
ideology, four aspects of the junzi
Junzi
Junzi or nobleman, was a term used by Confucius , to describe his ideal human. To Confucius, the functions of government and social stratification were facts of life to be sustained by ethical values; thus his ideal human was the junzi...
("prince" or "noble one").
Genera
The following are amongst the most notable genera of the orchid family:- AaAa (plant)Aa Rchb.f. 1854, is a genus of plants belonging to the family Orchidaceae.Species in this genus can be found growing terrestrially in cold habitats near the snowline in the Andes and also in Costa Rica; they are usually found close to small streams. The elongated inflorescence grows from a basal...
- AbdomineaAbdomineaAbdominea minimiflora, or the Tiny-flowered Abdominea, is a very rare monopodial epiphytic orchid species and the only species of the monospecific genus Abdominea. It is distributed from Thailand to the Malay peninsula, Java, and the Philippines.The name is derived from the Latin abdomen, meaning...
- AcampeAcampeAcampe, abbreviated as Acp in horticultural trade, is a genus of seven monopodial, epiphytic vandaceous species of orchids, distributed from tropical Africa to India, eastwards to China and southwards to Malaya, Indonesia, the Philippines and New Guinea...
- AcanthephippiumAcanthephippiumAcanthephippium is a genus of orchid with twelve species . The name of this genus is derived from the Greek words acanthos and ephippion , referring to the saddle-like labellum of the plants....
- AceratorchisAceratorchisAceratorchis is a small genus from the orchid family .The genus includes only two epiphytic species, occurring in mountainous forests and meadows from Tibet to Central China and Yunnan....
- AcianthusAcianthusAcianthus is a small genus of 9 species, 8 endemic in Australia and 1 in New Zealand, from the orchid family . Previously there were more species included in Acianthus, but about half of them have now been redistributed to other genuses, such as Acianthella.The name is derived from the Greek words...
- AcinetaAcinetaAcineta, abbreviated as Acn in horticultural trade, is a small genus belonging to the orchid family . The name is derived from the Greek word 'akinetos' , referring to the rigid labellum ....
- AcrorchisAcrorchisAcrorchis Dressler 1990, is a monotypic genus from the orchid family , subfamily Epidendroideae, tribe Epidendreae, subtribe Laeliinae....
- AdaAda (orchid)Ada, abbreviated as Ada in horticultural trade, is a genus of 16 species in the orchid family , subfamily Epidendroideae, tribe Cymbidieae, subtribe Oncidiinae, alliance Oncidium. The type species is Ada aurantiaca....
- AerangisAerangisAerangis, abbreviated as Aergs in horticultural trade, is a genus of the Orchid family . The name of this genus has been derived from the Greek words 'aer' and 'angos' , referring to the form of the lip. It is the type genus of the subtribe Aerangidinae...
- AeranthesAeranthesAeranthes, abbreviated Aerth in the horticultural trade, is an orchid genus with 47 species, mostly from shady, tropical humid forests in Zimbabwe, Madagascar and islands in the Western Indian Ocean. The name "aeranthes" means 'aerial flower', because it grows high in the air.Aeranthes has a single...
- AeridesAeridesAerides also known as the Cat's-tail Orchid or the Fox Brush Orchid, is a genus belonging to the Orchid family . It is a group of tropical epiphyte orchids that grow mainly in the warm low-lands of the tropics of Asia...
- AganisiaAganisiaAganisia Lindl. 1839, is a small South American genus in the orchid family , subfamily Epidendroideae.The genus was named after the Greek word ‘agnos’ , perhaps referring to the sweet scent of its flowers....
- AgrostophyllumAgrostophyllumAgrostylum is a genus with about ninety species from the orchid family . The genus name is derived from the Greek words agrostis and phyllos , referring to the grass-like appearance of the leaves of some species....
- AmitostigmaAmitostigmaAmitostigma Schltr. 1919, is a genus in the orchid family .It is an exclusively Asian genus of 27 orchids, growing in the alpine habitats of east Asia, India, eastern Himalaya, China, and Japan to Kuril Islands. Twenty two species of this genus grow in China.These are dwarf terrestrial orchids,...
- AnacamptisAnacamptisAnacamptis is a genus from the orchid family ; it is often abbreviated as Ant in horticulture. This genus was established by Louis Claude Richard in 1817; the type species is the Pyramidal Orchid Anacamptis is a genus from the orchid family (Orchidaceae); it is often abbreviated as Ant in...
- AncistrochilusAncistrochilusAncistrochilus is a genus of the orchid family , comprising only 2 species. The name is derived from the Greek words ankistron and cheilos , referring to the form of the lip....
- AngraecumAngraecumThe genus Angraecum, abbreviated as Angcm in horticultural trade, common name Angrek or Comet Orchid, contains about 220 species, some of them among most magnificent of all orchids. They are quite varied vegetatively and florally and are adapted to dry tropical woodland habitat and have quite...
- AnguloaAnguloaAnguloa, commonly known as tulip orchids, is a small orchid genus closely related to Lycaste. Its abbreviation in horticulture is Ang. This genus was described by José Antonio Pavón and Hipólito Ruiz López in 1798...
- AnselliaAnselliaAnsellia is a monotypic genus of orchid, with only one species, Ansellia africana, commonly known as African Ansellia or Leopard Orchid. It was named after John Ansell, an English assistant botanist. who found the first specimens in 1841 on the Fernando Po Island in West Africa...
- AorchisAorchisAorchis Vermeulen 1972, is a small genus of two terrestrial species from the orchid family , subfamily Orchidoideae, tribe Orchideae, subtribe Orchidinae....
- Aplectrum
- Arethusa
- ArmodorumArmodorumArmodorum is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae.- References :*Pridgeon, A.M., Cribb, P.J., Chase, M.A. & Rasmussen, F. eds. . Genera Orchidacearum 1. Oxford Univ. Press....
- AscocendaAscocenda× Ascocenda, abbreviated as Ascda in the horticultural trade, is a man-made hybrid orchid genus resulting from a cross between Ascocentrum and Vanda . It was first described in Orchid Rev...
- AscocentrumAscocentrumAscocentrum, abbreviated as Asctm in horticultural trade, is a small genus belonging to the orchid family . The type species is Ascocentrum miniatum Schltr. ex J. J. Sm...
- AscoglossumAscoglossumAscoglossum, abbreviated as Ascgm in horticultural trade, is a monotypic genus of epiphytic orchids in family Orchidaceae.Its only species Ascoglossum calopterum Schltr., 1913 is endemic to the Moluccas, New Guinea, the Philippines, and the Solomon Islands...
- Australorchis
- AuxopusAuxopusAuxopus is a genera of the family Orchidaceae. This genus belongs to the tribe Gastrodieae and subtribe Gastrodiinae.There is little known about the flower structure of members of the Gastrodieae tribe. This group is saprophytic, except for the genus Nervilia...
- Baptistonia
- Barbrodia
- BarkeriaBarkeriaBarkeria, abbreviated Bark in horticultural trade, is a genus of orchids originating from Mexico, comprising about 15 species. This genus was once considered part of Epidendrum....
- BarliaBarliaBarlia is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae.- References :*Pridgeon, A.M., Cribb, P.J., Chase, M.A. & Rasmussen, F. eds. . Genera Orchidacearum 1. Oxford Univ. Press....
- BartholinaBartholinaA member of the Fynbos plant kingdom, Bartholina is also known as the "Spider Orchid". The common name comes from the array of fine feather-like petals that surround the flower resembling the legs of a spider....
- BeloglottisBeloglottisBeloglottis is a genus of the family Orchidaceae. This genus belongs to the tribe Cranichideae and subtribe Spiranthinae. Orchids of the genus Beloglottis are terrestrial sympodial plants that can be used as herbal supplements. They have short, solitary stems that stand erect and the fleshy...
- BiermanniaBiermanniaBiermannia is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae.- References :*Pridgeon, A.M., Cribb, P.J., Chase, M.A. & Rasmussen, F. eds. . Genera Orchidacearum 1. Oxford Univ. Press....
- BletillaBletillaBletilla is a temperate, terrestrial genus of orchids containing 9 species distributed through China, Japan and Taiwan and Vietnam. The name is actually a diminutive of Bletia because of the resemblance between the two genera even though Bletia is a New World genus. The genera Jimensia Raf. and...
- BrassavolaBrassavolaBrassavola is a genus of 20 orchids . They were named in 1813 by the Scottish botanist Robert Brown. The name comes from the Venetian nobleman and physician Antonio Musa Brassavola. This genus is abbreviated B. in trade journals....
- BrassiaBrassiaBrassia is a genus of orchids classified in the Oncidiinae subtribe.The genus was named after William Brass, a British botanist and illustrator, who collected plants in Africa under the supervision of Sir Joseph Banks...
- BulbophyllumBulbophyllumBulbophyllum is the largest genus in the orchid family Orchidaceae. With more than 2,000 species, it is also one of the largest genera of flowering plants, exceeded only by Astragalus...
- CalypsoCalypso orchidThe Calypso orchid , also known as the fairy slipper or Venus's slipper, is a perennial member of the orchid family found in undisturbed northern and montane forests...
- CatasetumCatasetumCatasetum, abbreviated as Ctsm in horticultural trade, is a genus of the Orchid family , subfamily Epidendroideae, tribe Cymbidieae, subtribe Catasetinae, with 166 species....
- CattleyaCattleyaCattleya is a genus of 113 species of orchids from Costa Rica to tropical South America. The genus was named in 1824 by John Lindley after Sir William Cattley who received and successfully cultivated specimens of Cattleya labiata that were used as packing material in a shipment of other orchids...
- CirrhopetalumCirrhopetalumCirrhopetalum, abbreviated as Cirr in hortcultural trade, is a genus of epiphyte orchids . This genus is very closely related to Bulbophyllum and its members have been until recently considered to be in the genus Bulbophyllum...
- CleisostomaCleisostomaCleisostoma is a genus of orchid with more than 89 species distributed from India, Southeast Asia, Indonesia, New Guinea, the Philippines through Australia....
- ClowesiaClowesiaClowesia is a genus of the Orchidaceae family. Species of this genus are epiphytic and contain many pseudobulbs with several interodes. The leaves of this plant are arranged alternatively in two vertical rows on opposite sides of the rachis. The Clowesia has a simple gullet flower that allows...
- CoelogyneCoelogyneCoelogyne Lindl. 1821, is a genus of over 200 sympodial epiphytes from the family Orchidaceae, distributed across India, China, Indonesia and the Fiji islands, with the main centers in Borneo, Sumatra and the Himalayas. They can be found from tropical lowland forests to montane rainforests. A few...
- CoryanthesCoryanthesCoryanthes, commonly known as Bucket Orchids, is a genus of tropical epiphytic orchids. This genus is abbreviated as Crths in horticultural trade....
- CymbidiumCymbidiumCymbidium , or boat orchids, is a genus of 52 evergreen species in the orchid family Orchidaceae. It was first described by Olof Swartz in 1799. The name is derived from the Greek word kumbos, meaning 'hole, cavity'. It refers to the form of the base of the lip...
- CyrtopodiumCyrtopodiumCyrtopodium, often abbreviated Cyrt in horticulture, is a genus of more than 40 species of epiphytic and terrestrial orchids found from Florida and Mexico through Argentina...
- CypripediumCypripediumCypripedium is a genus of 47 species of lady's-slipper orchids native to temperate and colder regions of the Northern Hemisphere.Some grow in the tundra in Alaska and Siberia, which is an unusually cold habitat for orchids. They can withstand extreme cold, growing under the snow and blooming when...
- DactylorhizaDactylorhizaDactylorhiza , is a genus of terrestrial plants in the orchid family ....
- DendrobiumDendrobiumDendrobium is a huge genus of orchids. It was established by Olof Swartz in 1799 and today contains about 1,200 species. The genus occurs in diverse habitats throughout much of south, east and southeast Asia, including the Philippines, Borneo, Australia, New Guinea, Solomon Islands and New Zealand...
- DisaDisa (orchid)The orchid genus Disa consists of 169 terrestrial orchid species in tropical and South Africa, Madagascar and along the Western Indian Ocean...
- Dracula
- EncycliaEncycliaEncyclia is a genus of orchids. The genus name comes from Greek enkykleomai , referring to the lateral lobes of the lip which encircle the column. The abbreviation in the horticultural trade is E....
- EpidendrumEpidendrumEpidendrum , abbreviated Epi in horticultural trade, is a large neotropical genus of the orchid family. With more than 1,100 species, some authors describe it as a mega-genus. The genus name refers to its epiphytic growth habit...
- EpipactisEpipactisEpipactis, or Helleborine, is a genus of terrestrial orchids consisting of approximately 70 species. This genus is abbreviated as Epcts in horticultural trade.They occur in temperate and subtropical climates of America, Asia, and Europe...
- EriaEriaEria is a large genus of orchids with more than 500 species distributed in tropical Asia, Malaysia, Australia, Polynesia and other Pacific islands....
- EulophiaEulophiaThe genus Eulophia, which also constitutes the monogeneric alliance Eulophia, includes 210 species of orchids. It was first described by John Lindley in 1821. The name "Eulophia" was derived from the Greek words "eu" and "lophos" , referring to the crested ridges of the labellum in most species...
- GongoraGongoraGongora, abbreviated Gga in horticultural trade, is a member of the Orchid family . It consists of 65 species known from Central America, Trinidad, and tropical South America, with most species found in Colombia...
- GoodyeraGoodyeraGoodyera are a wide-ranging genus of orchid, one of approximately 800 described Orchidaceae genera within that large and diverse family. The genus is named after botanist John Goodyer....
- GrammatophyllumGrammatophyllumGrammatophyllum, abbreviated in horticultural trade as Gram, is a genus of 11 orchid species. The name is derived from the Greek words 'gramma' and 'phyllon' , referring to the dark markings in the flower...
- GymnadeniaGymnadeniaGymnadenia is a genus in the orchid family containing 22 terrestrial species.They can be found in damp meadows, fens and marshes, and on chalk or limestone, often in alpine regions of Europe and Asia up to the Himalayas. The Fragrant Orchid has been introduced into the USA.These hardy terrestrial...
- HabenariaHabenariaHabenaria, commonly called bog orchids, are a far ranging genus of orchid, one of approximately 800 described Orchidaceae genera within that large and diverse family. There are species in both tropical and temperate zones.-Description:...
- Herschelia
- IdaIda (orchid)Ida is a genus of flowering plants in the orchidaceae family. It consists of approximately 35 species. The genus was split off from Lycaste in 2003 by Henry Oakeley and Angela Ryan. Species in Lycaste that were endemic to South America and the Caribbean Islands were placed into the new genus Ida...
- LaeliaLaeliaLaelia, abbreviated L. in the horticultural trade, is a small genus of 25 species from the orchid family . This is one of the most important and popular orchid genera, because of the beautiful flowers, their genetic properties and because they are fairly easy in culture. It is probably named after...
- LepanthesLepanthesLepanthes is a large genus of orchids with about 800–1000 species, distributed in the Antilles and from Mexico through Bolivia . The genus is abbreviated in horticultural trade as Lths...
- Liparis
- LudisiaLudisiaLudisia is a genus of orchid commonly referred to as a jewel orchid.-Ludisia discolor:Ludisia discolor is the most common of the Ludisia genus, and includes two notable, naturally-occurring mutations....
- LycasteLycasteLycaste, abbreviated as Lyc in horticultural trade, is a genus of orchids that contains about 30 species with egg-shaped pseudobulbs and thin, plicate leaves.- Description :...
- MasdevalliaMasdevalliaMasdevallia, abbreviated Masd in horticultural trade, is a large genus of flowering plants of the Pleurothallidinae, a subtribe of the orchid family . There are over 500 species, grouped into several subgenera...
- MaxillariaMaxillariaMaxillaria, abbreviated as Max in horticultural trade, is a large genus of orchids . This is a diverse genus, with very different morphological forms. Their characteristics can vary widely....
- MeliorchisMeliorchisMeliorchis is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae.-References:*Pridgeon, A.M., Cribb, P.J., Chase, M.A. & Rasmussen, F. eds. . Genera Orchidacearum 1. Oxford Univ. Press....
- Mexipedium
- MiltoniaMiltoniaMiltonia, abbreviated Milt. in the horticultural trade, is an orchid genus formed by nine epiphyte species and eight natural hybrids inhabitants of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, one species reaching the northeast of Argentina and east of Paraguay. This genus was established by John Lindley in...
- MormodesMormodesMormodes, abbreviated as Morm. in the horticultural trade, is a genus of exactly 70 species of terrestrial and epiphyte orchids native to Central America and South America.-List of species:...
- OdontoglossumOdontoglossumOdontoglossum, first named in 1816 by Karl Sigismund Kunth, is a genus of about 100 orchids. The scientific name is derived from the Greek words odon and glossa , referring to the two tooth-like calluses on the base of the lip...
- OeceocladesOeceocladesOeceoclades is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae.- References :*Pridgeon, A.M., Cribb, P.J., Chase, M.A. & Rasmussen, F. eds. . Genera Orchidacearum 1. Oxford Univ. Press....
- OncidiumOncidiumOncidium, abbreviated as Onc. in the horticultural trade, is a genus that contains about 330 species of orchids from the subtribe Oncidiinae of the orchid family . This is a complex, difficult genus, with many species being reclassified...
- OphrysOphrysThe genus Ophrys is a large group of orchids from the alliance Orchis in the subtribe Orchidinae. There are many natural hybrids. The type species is Ophrys insectifera L.1753...
- OrchisOrchisOrchis is a genus in the orchid family . This genus gets its name from the Ancient Greek ὄρχις orchis, meaning "testicle", from the appearance of the paired subterranean tuberoids....
- PaphiopedilumPaphiopedilumThe paphiopedilums – often abbreviated Paph and colloquially known as paphs in horticulture – are flowering plants in the orchid family . It contains about 80 accepted species nowadays, some of which are natural hybrids...
- ParaphalaenopsisParaphalaenopsisThe genus Paraphalaenopsis, abbreviated as Prphln in horticultural trade, is a member of the Orchid family , consisting of 4 species endemic to Borneo and one natural hybrid, Paraphalaenopsis × thorntonii The genus Paraphalaenopsis, abbreviated as Prphln in horticultural trade, is a member of the...
- PeristeriaPeristeria (orchid)Peristeria is a genus of plants belonging to the family Orchidaceae commonly called Dove Orchid or Holy Ghost Orchid. In line with the common name, the genus' name is from the Greek word peristerion meaning "from dove"...
- PhaiusPhaiusPhaius is a genus of large, mostly terrestrial orchids . The genus has about 20 species. These species are found in tropical Asia, into China, Japan, Australia, and west to Africa and Madagascar...
- PhalaenopsisPhalaenopsisPhalaenopsis Blume , abbreviated Phal in the horticultural trade, is an orchid genus of approximately 60 species. Phalaenopsis is one of the most popular orchids in the trade, through the development of many artificial hybrids....
- PholidotaPholidota (orchid)The genus Pholidota belongs to the family Orchidaceae and the subtribe Coelogyninae. Genus that are part of this subtribe are usually terrestrial or epiphytic...
- PhragmipediumPhragmipediumPhragmipedium is a genus of the Orchid family and the only genus comprised in the tribe Phragmipedieae and subtribe Phragmipediinae. The name of the genus is derived from the Greek phragma, which means "division", and pedium, which means "slipper" . It is abbreviated 'Phrag' in trade journals...
- PlatantheraPlatantheraThe genus Platanthera belongs to the subfamily Orchidoideae of the family Orchidaceae, and comprises about 100 species of orchids. The members of this genus were previously included in the genus Orchis, which is a close relative . They are distributed throughout the temperate regions of the...
- Pleione
- Pleurothallis
- PromenaeaPromenaeaPromenaea is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae.These plants are miniature and are found in many regions such as Chile. They like light that is less than Cattleya, but more than Phalaenopsis.- References :...
- PterostylisPterostylisPterostylis is a terrestrial deciduous genus of some 100 or so species of orchids found mainly in New Zealand, Australia, Papua New Guinea and New Caledonia. The common name of this orchid is Greenhood - a number of species have green flowers with the dorsal sepal forming a "hood" over the rest of...
- RenantheraRenantheraRenanthera, abbreviated as Ren in horticultural trade, is a genus of large scrambling monopodial epiphytic and terrestrial species distributed from India, New Guinea, and through to the Philippines. Species in this genus produce a branched inflorescence containing numerous flowers ranging in color...
- RenantherellaRenantherellaRenantherella is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae.- References :*Pridgeon, A.M., Cribb, P.J., Chase, M.A. & Rasmussen, F. eds. . Genera Orchidacearum 1. Oxford Univ. Press....
- RestrepiaRestrepiaRestrepia, abbreviated Rstp in horticultural trade, is a small genus of 49 orchids in the orchid family , closely related to Pleurothallis. Named in honor of Don Jose Restrepo, it tends to be more showy than most other Pleurothallids...
- Restrepiella
- RhynchostylisRhynchostylisThe genus Rhynchostylis, abbreviated as Rhy in horticultural trade, is a member of the Orchid family , consisting of 6 species endemic to India, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines....
- RoezliellaRoezliellaRoezliella is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae.- References :*Pridgeon, A.M., Cribb, P.J., Chase, M.A. & Rasmussen, F. eds. . Genera Orchidacearum 1. Oxford Univ. Press....
- SaccolabiumSaccolabiumSaccolabium is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae.- References :*Pridgeon, A.M., Cribb, P.J., Chase, M.A. & Rasmussen, F. eds. . Genera Orchidacearum 1. Oxford Univ. Press....
- SarcochilusSarcochilusThe genus Sarcochilus, abbreviated as Sarco in horticultural trade, is a member of the Orchid family , consisting of 25 species endemic to Northern Australia, Eastern Australia, Tasmania and New Caledonia....
- SatyriumSatyrium (orchid)In botany, Satyrium is an orchid genus. The 91 species occur mainly in sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar. The range of 4 species extends to Asia, namely India and Sri Lanka. Hybridization is known to occur between several of its members...
- SelenipediumSelenipediumSelenipedium is a genus of the Orchid family . The genus has been given its own tribe, Selenipedieae, and subtribe, Selenipediinae...
- SerapiasSerapiasSerapias is a genus of terrestrial orchids that can be found all over southern Europe to Asia Minor. The genus was named after Serapis, a syncretic Hellenistic-Egyptian god in Antiquity....
- SophronitisSophronitisSophronitis, abbreviated Soph in horticultural trade, is a genus of small, epiphytic or lithophytic orchids, growing in the damp montane forest of eastern Brazil, Paraguay and NE Argentina. Currently, 65 species are recognized....
- SpiranthesSpiranthesSpiranthes, commonly called Ladies'-tresses, is a genus of orchids Spiranthes, commonly called Ladies'-tresses, is a genus of orchids Spiranthes, commonly called Ladies'-tresses, is a genus of orchids (family (Orchidaceae) belonging to the subfamily Orchidoideae.It has a very wide, almost...
- StanhopeaStanhopeaStanhopea is a genus of the orchid family from Central and South America. The abbreviation used in horticultural trade is Stan. The genus is named for the 4th Earl of Stanhope , president of the Medico-Botanical Society of London...
- Stelis
- ThrixspermumThrixspermumThrixspermum is a genus of orchids, comprising around 100 species distributed from India to Southeast Asia and New Guinea. The genus is also present in several Pacific Islands and two species have been found in Australia. The type species is Thrixspermum centipedia...
- TolumniaTolumniaTolumnia Rafinesque, is a genus in the family Orchidaceae. Previously known as the "equitant Oncidiums," the species were segregated from the mega-genus Oncidium by Guido Braem in 1986...
- Trias (genus)Trias (genus)Trias is a genus of orchids comprising thirteen species endemic to India, Myanmar and Thailand. It is abbreviated as Trias in horticultural trade....
- TrichocentrumTrichocentrumTrichocentrum, often abbreviated Trctm in horticulture, is a genus in the orchid family, Orchidaceae. It was described by Stephan Ladislaus Endlicher and Eduard Friedrich Poeppig in 1836; the type species is the Long-spurred Trichocentrum...
- TrichoglottisTrichoglottisTrichoglottis, abbreviated Trgl in horticultural trade, is a genus of plant in family Orchidaceae. It contains about 60 species found in East Asia, Malaysia, Australia, the Philippines and Polynesia....
- Vanda
- VanillaVanilla (orchid)Vanilla, the vanilla orchids, form a flowering plant genus of about 110 species in the orchid family . The most widely known member is the Flat-leaved Vanilla , from which commercial vanilla flavoring is derived. It is the only orchid widely used for industrial purposes...
- YoaniaYoaniaYoania is a genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae. -Distribution:This genus is mainly distributed in Japan, but Y. japonica is also found in Assam, China and Taiwan and Y...
- ZeuxineZeuxineZeuxine is a large genus of about 80 orchids belonging to the subfamily Orchidoideae. The members are mostly found to grow in wet grasslands. In India it is represented by 11 species -Description:...
- ZygopetalumZygopetalumZygopetalum , is a genus of the orchid family , consisting of fourteen species....
See Also
- Adaptation.Adaptation.Adaptation. is a 2002 American comedy-drama film directed by Spike Jonze and written by Charlie Kaufman. The film is based on Susan Orlean's non-fiction book The Orchid Thief through self-referential events...
, a movie based on The Orchid Thief - American Orchid SocietyAmerican Orchid SocietyThe American Orchid Society is a horticultural society devoted to the promotion, cultivation, and study of orchids . The organization was founded in 1921 and now has a worldwide membership....
- Distribution of orchid speciesDistribution of orchid speciesThis page lists all orchid species according to their respective distribution range.-Africa only:*Agrostophyllum occidentale *Agrostophyllum seychellarum...
- Italian Group for Research on Wild OrchidItalian Group for Research on Wild OrchidThe G.I.R.O.S. Italian Group for Research on Wild Orchids , is an italian naturalistic association of social promotion founded in 1994 by italian naturalist Paolo Liverani, who died in 2005, and other naturalists of Tuscany and Emilia Romagna.- Objectives :The GIROS promotes the knowledge, study...
- Lantingji Xu, introduction to the Orchid Pavilion Collection from Fourth Century China
- MoyobambaMoyobambaMoyobamba is the capital city of the San Martín Region in northern Peru. Called "Santiago of eight valleys of Moyobamba" or "Maynas capital". There are 70,000 inhabitants, according to the 2009 census. Some 3,500 species of orchids are native to the area, which has led to the city's nickname of...
, known as the 'City of Orchids', which has some 3,500 species of orchid native to the area - Nero WolfeNero WolfeNero Wolfe is a fictional detective, created in 1934 by the American mystery writer Rex Stout. Wolfe's confidential assistant Archie Goodwin narrates the cases of the detective genius. Stout wrote 33 novels and 39 short stories from 1934 to 1974, with most of them set in New York City. Wolfe's...
, a fictional detective and orchidophile - OrchideliriumOrchideliriumOrchidelirium is the name given to the Victorian era of flower madness when collecting and discovering Orchids reached extraordinarily high levels. Wealthy orchid fanatics of the 19th century sent explorers and collectors to almost every part of the world in search of new varieties of orchids....
the Victorian era of flower madness in which collecting and discovering Orchid reached extraordinary levels. - Kew Gardens video Watch the first known instance of a cricket as an orchid pollinator
- The Orchid ThiefThe Orchid ThiefThe Orchid Thief is a 1998 non-fiction book by American journalist and author Susan Orlean, based on her investigation of the 1994 arrest of John Laroche and a group of Seminoles in south Florida for poaching rare orchids in the Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve.The book is based on an article that...
, a nonfiction book written by Susan OrleanSusan OrleanSusan Orlean is an American journalist. She has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1992, and has contributed articles to Vogue, Rolling Stone, Esquire, and Outside....
External links
- Orchidaceae at The Plant List
- Orchidaceae at The Families of Flowering Plants (DELTA)
- Orchidaceae at the Angiosperm Phylogeny Website
- Orchidaceae at the online Flora of North America
- Orchidaceae at the online Flora of China
- Orchidaceae at the online Guide to the Flora of Mongolia
- Orchidaceae at the online Flora of Zimbabwe
- Orchidaceae at the online Flora of the Western Australian
- Orchidaceae at the online Flora of New Zealand
- Orchidaceae at Chileflora
- EPIDENDRA The Global Orchid Information Network
- Orchid Tree of Life at the Florida Museum of Natural History
- World Orchid Iconography at the Swiss Orchid Foundation
- Australian Native Orchids on Flickr
- Dr. C.E. Bracker Orchid Photographs at Ball State University.
- International Orchid Register at the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS)
- Orchid Conservation Coalition A grassroots movement towards orchid conservation