Orchids are perhaps the most widespread flowers in the world. They are very popular, and quite a few amateur growers grow them at home. Why not? Many orchids feel great in a flower pot. However, in this case they often require very careful and quivering care, as non-observance of temperature conditions or humidity level can quickly destroy them.
Orchids – one of the oldest families of plants, which arose on the planet about 145 million years ago.
The name “orchid” is of ancient Greek origin and is translated as “testicle” (human or other mammals) because of the similarity of the shape of the rhizome with this part of the body.
Orchids impress with their diversity and manage to grow throughout the Earth, with the exception of Antarctica.
Only in the territory of the former Soviet Union there was a place for 419 species of orchids, in total there are more than 25,000 kinds of these flowers in the world.
Orchid Ophris pchelonosnaya its appearance and smell like female single bees, attracting a large number of males for pollination. Other orchids tremble in the wind, imitating the victims of predatory insects, in order to lure them closer.
Inside one orchid, up to 4,000,000 seeds can arise, which makes these plants leaders among flowers by seed production.
Orchids can take the form of tiny flowers or tree-like lianas – the smallest of them reach a size of only a few millimeters, and the giant orchids grow to 35 meters.
Among the orchids there are “long-livers”, capable of growing 70 or more years.
The famous scientist Charles Darwin devoted to a method of pollination of orchids a separate scientific work, containing a lot of examples and details about the flowers that delighted him.
In London, the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew has an extensive collection of orchids, some of which have survived since the beginning of the last century, that is, their age is about 100 years.
By 2000, enthusiasts and biologists around the world had brought about 250,000 artificial varieties of orchids.
Few people know that the well-known vanilla spice is the fruit of a liana from the family of orchids.
Tubers of some varieties of orchids are rich in starch and are used in medicine to feed weak patients.
Cut orchid sprouts retain freshness in the vase longer than any other flowers.
The length of the petals of the world’s largest orchid with the scientific name Paphiopedilum sanderianum can exceed 120 centimeters.
The most expensive orchids “Gold Kinabalu” on Earth for the first time blossom only at the age of 15 years. Because of their rarity and uniqueness, the cost of escaping these orchids reaches $ 5,000. This flower grows in Malaysia.
Orchids are able to adapt to any conditions – they grow on marshes and cliffs, underground, in the desert, the tundra and other places famous for the harsh climate.
Orchids growing on trees do not parasitize them – they use trunks only as a support and a road to sunlight.
The smells of orchids of different kinds and varieties are as diverse as their appearance – they can exude the delicate aromas of honey and vanilla or spread the stench of rotten meat.
It is believed that the world’s richest collection of orchids can be seen in the park created for these flowers in Singapore – it grows about 60 thousand different plants of the orchid family.
In the eastern countries, a “salep” drink is distributed, which is made from tubers of orchids.
