Rare Orchids' Brief History

Orchids are one of the pioneer species on the planet. They are said to have existed way back when dinosaurs roam the earth. There are now over 30,000 species of orchids and many more hybrids of this awe-inducing flower. They are one of the most diverse flower types and have an amazingly large plant family to boot.

The name "orchid" is derived from early Greek "Orchis-an" and is a reference to the way the orchid kind of looks a little "testicular" if you get my drift! However, orchids grow all over the world with the most economically useful orchid coming from Central America and Mexico. This orchid is the Vanilla Planifolia and is the source of vanilla flavoring (did you know that?!?). We have the Aztecs to thank for figuring out how to get vanilla out of the Vanilla Planifolia. Now Madagascar in Africa is the world's largest producer of the "Vanilla Orchid" and vanilla and Coca Cola is their biggest consumer.

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

Rare Orchids and Charles Darwin

When scientist Charles Darwin was formulating his natural selection theory, orchids proved to be his perfect specimen. His focus was the Angreacum Sesquipidales and its pollination cycles. He predicted that when this orchid specie gave off a strong scent at night, the one that will pollinate it would be a moth, as the orchid's bright white color made it look like a light in the dark. Darwin's theory was proved by a moth that came along and pollinated the Angreacum Sesquipidales. Cool tricks from nature, huh?

Reproduction

At last count there where over 35,000 species of orchids, this is because the different species have creative ways to reproduce (think about the moth magnet described above). Some orchids rely on crawling insects while some rely on flying insects and there are those that rely on the wind pollination.

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

Orchids are ancient flowers that are fascinating today more than in any time of history. It is a continuous source of delight for many people around the globe to grow, cultivate, breed and display these flowering beauties in their homes and/or greenhouses.