Orchids
Dendrobium capituliflorum
Rolfe
The Orchidaceae family is the largest of the flowering plants with more than 20 000 species all around the world. These plants, famous for their often spectacular and sometimes strange flowers have always aroused a great interest. The diversity of heights, shapes and colours is impressive, as much for the floral characters as for the vegetative ones.
As many other plants, numerous orchids are adapted to particular environments and can be found only in limited geographical areas. So they are quickly threatened of extinction when their natural environment are destroyed.
Vanilla planifolia
Andrews
Vanilla (Vanilla planifolia or Vanilla pompona) is a climbing orchid coming from Mexico. It was already used by the Aztecs for its gustatory properties. Nowadays, it is cultivated in Madagascar, the Reunion Island and Tahiti. The vanilla flowers open only during a few hours before withering up. If they are fecundated, they will produce fruits, in the form of capsules. It will take them nearly one year to mature.
A difficult birth
Orchid’s microscopic seeds have no nutritive stock. They can germinate only if there is a symbiotic fungus that lives on the roots.
Angraecum eburneum Bory var. longicalcar
Bosser
In Africa, Madagascar and Reunion Island
Most of the epiphytic species produce low coloured flowers, often white, with a spur containing nectar. They are very perfumed during the night, and that will attract nocturnal butterflies which will be able to fecundate the flowers.
The tropical areas are the richest in number of orchids species, but there are also numerous terrestrial species, often with very coloured flowers in savannas or in plains.
Renanthera imschootiana
Rolfe
In Asia
Asia is well known for its production of orchids hybrids (Dendrobium, Oncidium and Vanda) and more particularly for the cut flowers trade. But this continent is extremely rich in orchids, as much in the temperate as are the tropical areas. It is, as an example, in mountainous areas of the Asian continent that we can find most of the Cypripedium species. New Guinea is particularly rich in endemic species, moreover the flowers are often very coloured, which make them very visible in the frequent fog of these mountains.