What Makes the Orchid Plant Special?

Why is the orchid plant special? The orchid is complex and beautiful, magical and unique. People have admired them for a long, long while. Orchids have been grown in the Far East since before the eleventh century. Orchid gardening in Europe is a newer art, having been initially mastered in the 1800's.

Orchid care is a labor of love, caring for a member of the largest flowering plant group in the world. There have been estimates made that there may be as many as 30,000 species of orchids! And botanists are still discovering new species, in lesser-known areas of the world.

The orchid plant blooms in flowers that have a different size and fragrance from one species to the next. The sizes range from gigantic plants and vines to microscopic ones. They can be found everywhere in the world, with the exception of Antarctica.

What is an orchid plant? Orchids are from the plant group known as monocots. They evolved from forty to eighty million years ago, and their ancestors looked more like lilies. Orchid gardening today involves caring for members of a rapidly-evolving and young family of flowers. Many of the orchid species have complicated mechanisms that aid in their pollination. These may be structures that are pollinator specific, or other traps or rewards. Orchid care involves understanding the symbiotic relationship that exists between the orchid plant and its pollinators.

Orchids can grow in many different types of situations - on trees, on rocks and in the ground. Most of the orchids that grow in the continental United States are terrestrial, which means that they grow in the ground.

What makes the orchid plant unique? One of the most interesting features of the orchid plant is the large lip on the flower, which is also known as the labellum. Orchids also have what is known as a "column", which is a grouping of the parts responsible for reproduction - the styles, stigmas, filaments and anthers. These parts are usually separate on most other plant varieties.

When the orchid plant grows in the wild, it does so in a symbiotic relationship with a fungus. They each supply food for the other, and the fungus helps the young orchids to grow by supplying nourishment.

You will find as you spend time orchid gardening, that they have a wide array of fragrances, sizes, colors and shapes. The orchid plant has leaves which are much less showy than its flowers. They may be flattened, round, folded, thin and flexible or thick and leathery.

The vine of the planifolia orchid plant of the American tropics is one of the few natural sources of vanilla extract. Their fragrance can vary from fetid to sweet to citrus-like, and the strangest orchid is probably the species Rhizanthella gardneri, in Australia, which lives and does nearly all of its flowering underground.

The name of the orchid plant comes from the Greek word "orchis", which means testicle, because of its bulbous root shape. They were originally grown in semi-tropical and tropical areas of the world, including Central and South America and Asia. There are several breeds that call the UK home.

If you have been pursuing orchid gardening as a hobby, you probably already know about the wide variety of colors that the orchid plant blooms in - nearly every color except blue and black.

The blooms on an orchid plant can live for two or three weeks if you cut them, and over a month if you leave them on the plant. Most of the plants enjoy being misted as part of your routine orchid care, and some but not all will adjust to your central heating and air conditioning.

The largest orchid plant in the world has a stem over fifty feet long, and the smallest can fit its flower on the head of a pin. They are diverse and unique, and you should consider yourself fortunate to be able to enjoy orchid gardening.

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