Welcome back to Sherwood Forest and thanks to Dave Sherwood for hosting this February 2004 meeting – Orchids and Orchid Culture. St. Louis is rich in orchid culture and history with Missouri Botanical Gardens. Robert J. Gillespie one of my horticulture teachers at Meramec Community College grew and hybrid orchids and was the first to develop a green orchid which he named after his wife.
With the lure for orchids instilled from Mr. Gillespie and them working at Missouri Botanical Gardens and the love of indoor or tropical plants, orchids are a natural love.
Today we have a special guest, Carol Gravens, a Master Gardener at Missouri Botanical Garden and micro-biologist. She will give us insight into the lure and legends of orchids.
Orchids comprise the largest plant family in the world. Over 25,000 species with even more hybrids coming into the culture yearly from around the world. Orchid flowers range in a wide color spectrum from pink to reds, brown, yellow and green and in size from nearly microscopic to showy blooms.
From scented to unscented to richly sweet The orchid family spread and developed so diversely due to excellent survival instincts. Orchids are incredibly tough plants, able to make do in unfriendly environments and perpetrate in the wilds of tropical jungle even on the verge of death. Some orchids can live for over a hundred years…
Great news from Missouri Botanical Gardens. They have donated up to 50 passes which is good for two adults and children to visit the Garden. The only cost would be to pay as you go into the orchid show, which is minimum and then you can enjoy the entire garden. Be sure and stop in the Climatron.
I do not know how many of you remember the James Bond 007 movie where was going to use the orchid to help him rule the world of the future.
It always puzzles me when an experienced gardener hesitates to grow orchids. (Also see attached on growing orchids under fluorescent lights). The uniqueness of the Climatron at Missouri Botanical Garden you can see them as they would grow naturally in the Rain Forest. Also it is unfortunate the way many books slanted towards home greenhouse growing. Home growing of orchids is relatively easy with correct selection for your location and good air circulation. I grow my orchids at home in our bathroom around the tub in front of the west facing window. Usually by a window could be too cool, so normally about a foot or so away could be good. A bay window or sun porch in a hanging container would be really good.
In trying to duplicate the best environment for the orchids, here are some suggested growing procedures.
Generally, you can tell how much light an orchid needs by observing the foliage. For most plants, you want the leaves to be a light green color. When exposed to sufficient light, many plants darken their foliage with plum-colored pigments. Essentially, this is the plant's "suntan." It may take the form of spotting or the whole leaf may darken. This shows that the plant has as much light as it can stand and is trying to protect itself from burning. This is the ideal situation for good blooming. `
Too much light: If the leaves become very yellow, move the plant to a shadier location. The same goes if you see sudden brown splotches or orange patches, particularly at the apexes of leaves or at folds where long leaves reflex. Light that is too intense can cause sun scalding. This
is indicated by the large, bleached spots that eventually turn black, crispy, and dry, looking charred.
Not enough light: If the leaves become dark emerald green, move the plant to more light. This coloration shows that the plant wants more light to grow well. The plant will live indefinitely with light that is lower than ideal, but you probably won't see any flowers. The good news is that a large and otherwise healthy plant that has been grown for a long time without adequate light will often put on a dazzlingly impressive display once given desirable light conditions.
Orchids like to be soaked and then allowed to dry out slightly before being watered again. Here in the Midwest, particularly during our scorching, dry summers, proportioning the correct amount of water for orchids is probably the most asked about problem. Throughout this central belt, we find that the need for water at the roots is best supplied by keeping the potting material medium moist at all times. With a little experience you will soon learn how much is required in your own particular home.
Watering is another important thing to get right. Most orchids are epiphytic. They grow on trees or other plants, and obtain their moisture from the air. Nutrients are obtained from rain carrying decaying matter over the roots. This means that they never stand in water in nature. Accordingly, your orchids should not be allowed to stand in water in your home.
Orchids must be watered somewhat differently from most other plants, the most noticeable difference being orchid’s intolerance of dissolved salts.
There really is no hard rule for watering that can be applied across all orchids, particularly bearing in mind that some homes are drier then others, small pots dry out faster than large ones, and some plants prefer more water than others.
In general, watch the plants – they let you know when they need water. Crinkled leaves and shrunken pseudobulbs are signs that more water is needed. The roots will tell you if you have good watering habits, too. Healthy roots are white, firm, and fleshy with green tips, in plants that are not being overwatered (this is for genera that have velamen…Paphs, Phrags, and terrestrials are not included in this description). Overwatered plants have fee good roots, and many soggy, mushy, brown, dead and otherwise rotting roots.
One watering rule you can live by is that most orchids tolerate being too dry much better than they tolerate being too wet.
When you water, let the water run freely through the pot. This helps to wash away mineral deposits and avoid salt buildup.
Most plants do best with humidity in the range of 60% to 80%, but the average home registered at about 30% to 40%. A heated home with lots of carpets and draperies may have as little as 5% ambient humidity….far too low for orchids to thrive (or people, for that matter…which is why humidifiers are so commonly employed for people with respiratory ailments).
If you have adequate humidity to raise other houseplants, you have enough to raise orchids. If humidity is a problem for your other plants, then it will definitely be a concern for your orchids. No expensive equipment is necessary to provide more humidity for your orchids. Commercially available purpose-built humidity trays are very nice, but really any tray large enough to hold your plants - - and deep enough to hold some water – will suffice.
To create a humidity tray, fill the tray with gravel or place a rack across the tray. Next put water in the tray. The evaporating water will help the plant thrive in a dry environment.
Most in-home temperatures are acceptable for growing the most common types of orchids. Cattleya, Phalaenopsis, Paphiopedilum, Oncidium, Miltonia, etc. can all be grown with great success under normal home temperatures. In general, if it feels comfortable to you, these plants will feel fine, too. Diurnal temperatures between 65 and 80 degrees are usually best, with nocturnal temperatures between 55 and 75 degrees. Some plant such as Phalaenopsis, actually require a period of marked difference between daytime and nighttime temperatures in order to initiate blooming; so if your home is utterly climate controlled and the temperature never fluctuates from day to night, you can actually have trouble blooming some kinds of orchids.
Most orchids are tough enough to grow outside their “ideal” temperature ranges. If for some reason you need to “stretch” an orchid’s tolerance zone, one way to do so is by reducing the watering. This is particularly true for warmer growing orchids forced to spend a little time under cooler conditions…..they’ll usually weather the cool period OK, as long as they aren’t wet and cold. For cooler-growing orchids forced to endure hot weather, the key is lots of additional water and lots of good air movement. A cool grower exposed to hot temperature will bake in stagnant air, but would be fine under the same conditions if there is a fan blowing across the foliage (don’t forget that increased air movement means increased transpiration…so adjust the watering schedule accordingly).
Speaking of air movement….it is crucially important to most orchids. In their native environment nearly all orchids are exposed to constant breezes. Moving air is very beneficial to the overall health of orchids. It helps cut down on disease problems, and also helps prevent cold or hot spots that can form on the leaves under adverse temperature conditions. A small fan mounted in the growing area will give you noticeably better growing conditions and your plants will thank you by responding with more vigorous growth.
No plant will live on air and water alone. Most orchid potting media provide support only, and have little or no food value. When the plants are in bark they need a high nitrogen food (30-10-10 ETC) Plants in most other media need a balanced food (18-18-18 ETC.). Use a water soluble fertilizer the dilutions recommended on the label. Plants in lower light need less fertilizer or the tips of leaves start to shrivel. Flush the pots with plain water occasionally to prevent deadly salt buildup. Many orchids aren’t heavy feeders, so feeding every couple of weeks is enough. They have an indefinite life span, so fertilizer isn’t critical as it is with an annual. One month missed fertilizer won’t stop blooming or mortally wound a plant that can live a century or more, given good care. Proper light is more important for good blooming than a rigorous fertilizer regimen.
Orchid roots often creep over the edge of the pot before the body of the plant makes it to the edge of the pot. This is not necessarily an indication that you need to repot the plant. Reporting is only necessary when the body of the plant has brown over the pot edge or the media itself breaks down and will no longer allow the roots to dry between waterings. Under ideal growing conditions (and if you didn’t over the plant to begin with), most commonly cultivated orchids outgrow their pots before the media breaks down.
The best time to repot is at the beginning of the growing season. This gives the plant the best chance to grow into the new pot and secure itself.
- Assemble all your supplies:
- Cutting tool(s)
- Plant(s) to be repotted
- New pot (select the next size up…don’t overpot)
- New media.
- Sterilize your cutting tool (an open flame passed along the blade for a few seconds is ideal You should resterilize the tool between each plant you cut. You may also use gloves and change them with some degree of frequency, especially after handling a plant with an insect infestation or other problem.
- Gently ease the plant out of its old pot. Don’t be afraid to destroy the old pot if it will help keep the roots of the plant intact.
- Gently remove as much of the old media as will come off the roots.
- Remove any bad (overly dried or soggy brown) rots.
- Put drainage material and a little media in the bottom of the pot.
- Place the plant in the pot. The rhizome or crown should be slightly below the rim of the pot.
- Sprinkle new media into the pot, allowing it to work down among the roots of the plant pat it in gently, but do not force the media in and do not compact the media. You want an airy mix that allows good circulation. Do not bury the plant’s rhizome or crown.
- If necessary stake the plant to steady it.
- Water lightly until the plant adjusts to its new pot.
POTTING MEDIA
Most orchids are epiphytes. Orchids will not grow in regular potting soil! I offer this warning because years ago, when I was first learning about orchids, a friend nearly killed a beautiful and large plant he had given to his wife as a gift.
Epiphytes (which literally means “upon the leaf”) are sometimes commonly known as “air plants”. They grow on the branches of trees in the rainforest. The only real purpose of putting any kind of media in their pot is to hold the plant upright, and possibly also to aid a bit in moisture retention between waterings. The main function of the medium, though, is to provide support. Anything that does this and allows good air circulation around the roots is acceptable as a potting media.
Each type of media has its own advantages and disadvantages, and some of these are exacerbated by local growing conditions. The best way to choose a suitable media for your growing area is to speak with local growers and breeders to see what they are using.
Most local garden centers carry orchid potting mix. Hummert’s International has a mix called “Hummert’s Orchid Potting Mix.” This is a special blend of chipped redwood, peat, perlite and orchid bark. It is found to be one of the best all-around mixtures of growing media for general purpose orchid culture.
The size of individual particles in the media affects its water retention character. Small chips of medium retain more moisture than will large chunks of the same medium. All the media listed above dry at different rates. The media at the top of the list retain the most moisture, while those toward the bottom of the list dry out much quicker. If you tend to overwater, think about using the faster drying media. If you prefer to water less, use the media that hold moisture.
Four Recommended Orchids for First-Time Growers:
| Species
| Common Name
| Light
| Water
| Notes
|
| Phaloenopsis |
Moth orchids |
Moderate |
Keep barely moist |
Easiest variety. Repot only as needed, root system is delicate. |
| Paphiopedilum |
Lady slipper |
Moderate |
Keep barely moist |
Likes to be cozy in its pot. |
| Dendrobium |
- |
More light |
Keep barely moist |
Likes to be rootbound |
| Cattleya |
- |
Most light |
Pseudobulb stores |
Grows laterally, so allow room for 1-2 years growth. Water after it dries out completely.
|
.
ORCHIDS FOR THREE EXPOSURES
The following is a representative example of the possibility of a “mixed” orchid collection to be grown in an east, west, or south window. Plants are listed according to their light requirements: The plants listed first should be grown closest t the window, while those named last should be somewhat shaded by those in front.
East Window: Oncidium and Brassia; evergreen Dendrobium species, all Phalaenopsis hybrids, all Paphiopedilum species and hybrids.
West Window: Ascocexda, members of the Cattleya alliance, Epidendrum and Encylia; Brattia, Oncidium, and Dendrobium hybrids, Phalaenopsis hybrids, Paphispedilum if well shaded.
South Window: Vanda and Ascocend; miniature Cymbidium, the Cattleya alliance; the larger Oncidium, Epidendrum and encyclia with some shading.
‘AN ORCHID ROMANCE’ SHOW AT THE MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN
WHAT “An Orchid Romance” Flower Show
WHEN Saturday, Jan. 31 through Sunday Mar. 14, 2004, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily
WHERE Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Blvd. in St. Louis, Missouri
“An Orchid Romance” Flower Show, Missouri Botanical Garden 2004, Saturday, January 31 through Sunday, March 14, 2004 at Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Blvd., in St. Louis, Missouri. This annual orchid show is always a must. I hope everyone was able to see the Holiday Christmas Train Flower Display as it was awesome, as always.
The cost is $3 for adults and $2 for seniors, in addition to regular admission ($7 adults, $5 seniors; St. Louis city and county residents, $3 adults, $1.50 seniors). Members and children 12 and under are admitted free to both the Garden and orchid show.
The display is a classical ruin of vine-covered columns and urns overgrown with gorgeous orchids of many species, enhanced by lush green ferns, mosses and shrubs. “An Orchid Romance” offers visitors a chance to see the Garden’s award-winning collection beautifully presented throughout 5,000 square feet of winding pathways, volcanic ruins, tropical foliage and water features.
“Take a break from the cold and come enjoy an absolutely incredible display of the world’s most exotic and romantic of flowers,” suggests floral display designer Brian LeDoux, creator of the Garden’s annual shows since 1975.
Orchids are incredibly diverse in shape, size and color, and many are fragrant. Some smell fruity, some like chocolate or coconut, while others have heavy floral scents. Some orchids even reek with a powerful smell of decay to attract flies. Other plants on display can be deceptive too, such as the tangled, drooping Spanish moss, which is actually a Bromeliad, a member of the pineapple family.
Orchids make up the largest living collection at the Garden, with some specimens dating back over 100 years. The Garden has over 8,500 orchids, representing some 3,100 species, varieties and hybrids, including many rare and unusual plants. The genera Cattleya, Laelia, Epidendrum, Oncidium, Paphiopedilum, and Phalaenopsis are emphasized because they can survive blistering St. Louis summers, and their diverse color and form are valuable for displays and educational exhibits. A sample of the orchid collection is on view year-round in the Beaumont Room atrium in the Ridgeway Center and in rotating Climatron orchid displays. However, only in February and March during the orchid show can visitors view a large portion of the winter blooming orchids.
Visitors who return throughout the six-week show will notice that the display changes slightly from week to week, as fresh blooms replace spent ones.
“We start out with about 700 to 800 orchids in the show, and I switch out approximately anywhere from 50 to 100 spent orchids a week. I try to get as much diversity in the show as possible,” said Babs Wagner, horticulturist and orchid grower. Wagner juggles temperatures in the greenhouse orchid range starting in October in order to force early blooming or to delay blooms for the show. The horticulture division’s greenhouse and floral display staff and a dedicated group of volunteers plan and prepare for the show months in advance.
Beginning in mid-January, the Garden’s Web site will post photographs of the orchid show installation in progress. Log on to www.mobot.org/hort and click on “Activities and Events” for a sneak preview.
Throughout the show, the Garden Gate Shop will offer an outstanding selection of orchid plants and gardening accessories, with proceeds supporting the Garden.
The Missouri Botanical Garden is located at 4344 Shaw Blvd. in St. Louis, just off Interstate 44 at Vandeventer. Free on-site parking is available. The Garden is easily accessible via public transportation by taking the MetroLink to the Central West End station and picking up the Garden Express shuttle bus on weekdays.
THE ORCHID COLLECTION
The Missouri Botanical Garden has a long and proud history of involvement with orchids. The first specimens were given to Henry Shaw in 1876 by Mrs. Henry T. Blow. Her collection was the result of plants collected in Brazil by her husband while he served as Minister to Brazil under President Grant. The collection grew steadily until 1918, when the largest public display of orchids ever held in St. Louis was made at the Christmas Show. Limited by today’s standards, the show was billed as an “orchid collection which excels all in the United States.”
Just two years later came the flowering of the first hybrid developed here at the Garden. It was Paphiopedilum, the first of many. In 1923, G.H. Pring of the Missouri Botanical Garden staff set off to Panama and Colombia on a trip to collect orchids and other economic plants. He returned with 5,000 cattleyas, clearly a successful trip. In 1926, the Garden established a tropical field station in Panama with the cooperation of the Canal Zone Government. Orchid collection began in earnest.
By 1926, orchids at the Garden were being threatened by the industrial smoke and smog of the city, so the orchid collection was moved to the newly acquired Shaw Arboretum at Gray Summit, Missouri, 30 miles outside of St. Louis. They were placed in a range of greenhouses built especially to house the collection. In 1927, an orchid seedling department was begun.
Through gifts and collecting, the orchid collection grew in size and prominence. In 1954, St. Louis was the site of the first World Orchid Congress. By 1958, conditions in the city had improved to the point that the orchid collection was returned to the Garden.
Today, the Missouri Botanical Garden’s orchid collection still represents one of the largest and finest in the United States. The Garden has over 8,500 orchid plants, representing approximately 320 genera. The collection includes over 1,500 unique orchid species, excluding hybrids.
Emphasis has been placed on the most extensive genera Cattleya, Laelia, Epidendrum, Oncidium, and Paphiopedilum because they can survive the blistering St. Louis summers, and offer a diversity of color and form that are valuable assets for displays and educational exhibits.
Orchids can be viewed in the atrium of the Beaumont Room in the Ridgway Center and in rotating Climatron® orchid displays. In addition, the Garden holds an annual orchid show in January, February and March in the Orthwein Floral Hall in the Ridgway Center.
The Missouri Botanical Garden’s mission is to discover and share knowledge about plants and their environment, in order to preserve and enrich life. Today, more than 140 years after opening, the Missouri Botanical Garden is a National Historic Landmark and a center for research, education and horticultural display. Rev. 12/17/02
HISTORY
The Garden’s Orchid Timeline
In 1876 Mrs. Henry T. Blow presented Garden founder Henry Shaw with a sampling of orchids collected by her husband while he served as Minister to Brazil under President Grant. Shaw was especially found of orchids, and at his death in 1889, the Garden’s collection, though small, was one of the most complete in the country.
In 1903 a terrible fire destroyed two-thirds of the collection of 350 orchids and left the remainder badly damaged. Within two years, the collection was reestablished aided by a generous donation from the New York Botanical Garden.
In 1906 orchidologist George H. Pring joined Garden staff with the expressly stated goal of building an orchid collection “even better than Kew.” Head horticulturist for 57 years, Pring played a major role in developing the collection into one of the world’s finest. So famed was the collection that during World War I, the Garden obtained a special permit to burn coal even though it was in short supply to heat the orchid greenhouses.
In 1918, Kirkwood orchidologist D. S. Brown donated his orchids to the Garden bringing the collection to 5,732 plants. Just two years later came the flowering of the first hybrid developed at the Garden. It would be named Paphiopedilum ‘D.S.Brown.’
In 1923 Pring spent six months collecting plants in Panama and Columbia and returned with 40 burro-loads – or some eight tons – of orchids. The Garden’s first orchid show was held the following year, attracting 8,000 visitors.
In 1926, the Garden established a tropical field station in Panama, greatly facilitating orchid collection. Meanwhile back in St. Louis, the Garden’s orchid collection, long suffering from air pollution, was moved to the newly acquired Shaw Arboretum (now the Nature Reserve) at Gray Summit, Missouri, 30 miles away. Hybridization and seedling work was begun the following year.
In 1954 St. Louis was the site of the first World Orchid Congress, and by 1958, air quality conditions in the city had improved and the orchid collection was returned to St. Louis.
In 1979, the Floral Display Hall burned down. The Garden has never rebuilt a permanent display structure.
In 2003, the Garden boasts an award-winning orchid collection, numbering over 8,500 plants, and including many rate and ancient specimens.
The Lure and Legend of Orchids
Carol Gravens
Orchids are alluring and mysterious plants. The largest of all plant families, they are fascinating, and of infinite beauty and great variety. They have captivated the imaginations of people from all over the world for many hundreds of years.
Orchids are thought to have originated on earth in the early Cretaceous Period, some 120 million years ago, at the time the continents were breaking apart from the great land mass supercontinant known as Pangaea. Orchids outlived the dinosaurs, and they may outlive us! They have fascinated people since early times. As far back as the time of the Chinese philosopher Confucius in the 6th century BC, orchids, like roses, have been loved and held as a privileged flower. Today they are the second best selling plant in America. Number one is the Poinsettia. Orchids seduce people into looking for them, caring for them, being absorbed by them. They cast a spell on people because they are so intriguing.
Orchids flourish worldwide from the equator to the poles, from the Arctic Circle in the north to Tierra del Fuego at the southern tip of South America. They grow in every continent except Antarctica. They grow in trees, in desserts, and on sand dunes, on bare rocks, underground, and even under the snow. They flourish at sea level and at mountain elevations of 13,000 feet. About 90% of the orchids in the word, however, grow in the tropics, between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.
Orchids have a great range in shape, size and color. They have a very unique flower structure and reproductive system. They show the widest diversity of any plant family. Orchid flowers have bilateral symmetry, that is, the left and right sides of the flower are mirror images of each other. Most flowers have radial symmetry, like a circle. Think about a rose or a lily.
Orchid flowers are a trilogy; everything about them comes in threes, from their structure to their reproduction. They love threesomes. All orchid flowers whether colossal or minute have three petals and three sepals. Sepals are the glorified remains of the flower bud and may look like petals. Of the three petals, two are the same, and the lower petal, which is different from the other two, is very unique and is called the “lip”. The lip may be large or small, and its purpose is to attract insects for pollination by acting as a flag and landing platform.
At the center of the flower is the column, which is a single curved finger-like structure. The column contains both the male and female reproductive organs. Although each flower possesses both male and female structures, most orchids do not self pollinate. Instead of powdery, loose pollen, orchid pollen is tightly compacted into solid golden yellow masses called pollinia. This assures that none of the pollen is wasted, unlike windblown pollen of other flowers. The pollinia are produced by the stamen, the male reproductive structure, and are located just behind the pollen cap that is at the tip of the column. Behind and below the pollen is the stigma, or female structure. It has a sticky surface that accepts pollen brought to it from another flower by the pollinating insect. As the pollinating insect leaves the flower, the sticky pollinia adhere to the insect’s back and are subsequently passed on to the next flower.
Orchids are usually pollinated by insects, such as bees, moths, wasps, flies, or butterflies. Spiders and birds also can be pollinators. In most cases the pollinator is specific to each orchid species. The two have evolved together. Orchids and their pollinators are in perfect harmony. Charles Darwin, the English biologist who lived in the 19th century, discovered that each kind of orchid has its very own specific pollinator. Darwin gave his name to the theory of evolution by natural selection, and he had a great interest in orchids. The story goes that while strolling in the Devon countryside, he observed the curious dances insects performed around orchid plants. He eventually proved that the plants specifically attracted the insects, which were then used as pollinators. Many orchid species look so much like their pollinators that the insect thinks the flower is another insect and tries to mate with it.
The orchid flower attracts its pollinator in many ingenious ways. It can mimic the female insect in appearance or scent, thus tricking the male insect pollinator into mating with it. It can emit a delicious fragrance to attract the pollinator into the deepest reaches of the column to get at the nectar. If the pollinator is active only at night, the orchid emits its fragrance only at night. Some orchids are pollinated by carrion flies, and therefore they produce the smell of rotting meat to attract their pollinators.
For slipper orchids that have a pouch for a lip, the pollinator becomes trapped in the pouch. It cannot leave the flower unless it passes through the column where the flower’s reproductive structures are, and thus pollinating it. That is the only way out! After the flower is fertilized by the insect, it collapse and dies. The area on the stem just behind the flower then swells and produces millions of tiny seeds. The seeds are no larger than dust particles. When the seed pod ripens and splits, the seeds are spread by the wind. Unlike other seeds, orchid seeds contain no stored food to allow them to germinate and grow seedlings.
So we have talked about the flower and the pollinator. And now comes the third part of the threesome that orchids need to reproduce—the fungus. Each orchid species has its own species of fungus. The orchid and the fungus have a mutually beneficial relationship. The fungus penetrates the seed and stays with the orchid during seed germination to provide nutrients. The fungus then goes to the roots of the plant and stays with the orchid plant throughout its life. The fungus is microscopic and therefore cannot be seen with the naked eye. The fungus provides minerals and other nutrients for the orchid, and the orchid provides sugars for the fungus through photosynthesis. Before humans knew about the necessity of the fungus for orchid seed germination, orchids could not be grown from seeds by humans. This was discovered in the 1920s. Now we can artificially supply the nutrients that the fungus provides in the wild.
Orchids grow in two basic growth patterns that are called monopodial and sympodial. Monopodial orchids grow upward. The word “monopodial” means “single foot” in Latin. They grow one or two new leaves each year, and the older leaves closest to the bottom of the plant gradually die. The Phalaenopsis or moth orchid is a monopodial orchid. Its common name is moth orchid because it looks like a swarm of moths!
Sympodial orchids grow horizontally or outward by producing new growth at the base of the mature stems. The word “sympodial” means “many footed” in Latin. The Cattleya or corsage orchid is sympodial, as is the Paphiopedilum, or lady slipper orchid.
Orchids are also classified as terrestrial or epiphytic. Terrestrial orchids, like the lady slipper orchids, grow on the ground. They can grow in the forest, in sand in the desert, and even under snow.
Epiphytic orchids, or air plants, have adapted to grow on the branches and trunks of trees. Most of them live in tropical jungles. They are not parasites. They do not harm the trees, but only use trees for support, as a good place to sit. They have adapted to grow without soil. They absorb moisture from the air, and nutrients from decaying matter. Corsage orchids and moth orchids are epiphytes. Epiphytic orchids have developed specialized structures. One of these is pseudobulbs. Pseudobulbs are enlarged stems capable of storing water. Since epiphytes live at the tops of trees and cannot get water from soil, they must store water. You can see the swollen stems on the plant in this picture, where it is storing water.
Another specialized structure of epiphytes is their roots. They have climbing roots, absorbing roots, and aerial roots. They also have a special covering on their roots called velamen. Velamen quickly takes up water and nutrients when they become available. By living at the tops of trees, epiphytic orchids also can get more light and fresh air than on the forest floor.
Did you know that we have wild orchids growing here in Missouri? There are 36 species native to Missouri, and about half of them are on the Endangered Species List because of the pressures that we humans have put on the environment. One previously unknown Missouri species was just discovered in 2003. The most common species of orchid in Missouri is a yellow lady slipper orchid. If you try to transplant a Missouri native orchid wildflower to your garden, it will die because you will have taken it away from its fungus that supplies its nutrients.
Tropical orchids first made their way to Europe in the 17th century during the Age of Exploration when European explorers were sailing the world. The first tropical orchid came to the Netherlands at this time. By the late 18th century they were also in France, Belgium, Russia and North America. In the 18th century wealthy Europeans financed expeditions to unexplored areas in the tropics for the sole purpose of bringing back orchids.
For three years between 1768 and 1771, Captain James Cook and the English botanist, Joseph Banks sailed on the ship Endeavor to South America, Tahiti, New Zealand, Australia, and Malaysia. They contracted malaria, they were shipwrecked, and some of the crew died of exposure. The survivors of the expedition, however, returned to England after three years with 3,000 tropical orchid plants.
Orchid Mania took hold in Europe in the 19th century. It began when the noted English horticulturist, William Cattley, received some non-orchid plants in a shipment from South America. They were wrapped in what appeared to be a bundle of dried sticks. Some of the sticks were green and eventually sprouted into plants that produced rose-purple flowers, the likes of which no one in England had ever seen before. This is the flower that sparked Orchid Mania. Fortunes were plundered and lives were lost for a single flower. Europeans traveled to the tropics, risking their lives to find orchids. The tropical jungles teemed with savage animals, unknown diseases, and physical hardships. The orchid hunters risked the high seas and the wrath of native peoples. Many of them died in the pursuit of orchids. They considered orchids to be exotic and mysterious, and worth the risk. If they found a previously undiscovered species, they might burn the forest after they took out the plants. They didn’t want anyone else to find and possess the unique new orchid they had discovered. Most of the plants they collected died on the long voyage back to Europe, which could take many months. Some plants rotted or were eaten by rats en route.
The Europeans didn’t know how to grow the surviving plants once they got them back home. They tried to grow them in dark, steamy hot buildings they called “stove houses”. There was one enormous stove house that belonged to William Cavendish, Duke of Devonshire, which was known as the Great Stove. It covered 43,000 square feet. The Europeans didn’t realize that orchids grow on the tops of trees and require light and moving air. With this undesirable treatment, it is amazing that any of these plants survived at all. It is a tribute to the hardiness of orchids that they did so.
No wonder orchids were so expensive! The European orchid collectors would pay more to acquire one plant than they would pay their employees in a whole year to take care of their plants. The Empress Eugenie, the consort of Napoleon III, paid 18,000 francs for one orchid plant in 1867. That would be more than $2500 at today’s exchange rate, not accounting for inflation!
Orchid Mania persisted into the early 20th century. In 1901, just over a hundred years ago, eight orchid hunters went to the Philippines. Only one came out alive with orchid plants. One was eaten by a tiger, one was burned alive, and five vanished without a trace. The one survivor came out of the jungle with thousands of Phalaenopsis orchid plants.
Even today there are orchid hunters who go to the wilds of the tropics to try to discover new species of orchids. Here is the picture of a native orchid hunter in the Philippines. A young Englishman, Tom Hart Dyke, is traveling today to wild areas in the tropics, trying to find an undiscovered orchid species. He wants to name it after his grandmother, who grows orchids in England and loves them. Tom Hart Dyke was recently released after being captured and held for nine months by guerillas in Colombia, South America.
There are many legends about orchids. In a Roman legend, Venus, the goddess of love and beauty, was in the forest with her lover Adonis. A tremendous thunderstorm came up, and the lovers ran to take shelter in a cave. In the process Venus lost her slipper that was made of pure gold. When the storm had passed, a mere mortal spotted the slipper lying on the ground, and when he went to pick it up, it turned into a lady slipper orchid, the color of gold.
There is a Japanese legend of the “thirteen great treasures”. An empress who had no children was cured of her infertility when she smelled a Cymbidium orchid. Subsequently she gave birth to 13 children!
There is a beautiful legend that originates in New Zealand. The Maori people there believed that orchids were not of earthly origin. In the beginning of time the only visible parts of the earth above the ocean were snow capped mountains. The sun melted some of the snow to form rivers and valleys, and clouds formed from rising water vapor. The sun could not see the earth and vowed to puncture the clouds. A beautiful rainbow resulted that covered the whole sky. The spirits were attracted to the dazzling color, and they sat on the rainbow. They were so overjoyed in the beauty that they burst into song. Then more and more spirits sat on the rainbow until it gave way under their weight. As it broke up, colored diamonds fell from the sky. The trees caught the colored diamonds, and they became epiphytic orchids.
Did you know that Vanilla is an orchid? Vanilla pods were used by the Aztecs in Mexico from the 15th century onward to pay their taxes, and also as an aphrodisiac. When the Spanish conquistador Cortés arrived in Mexico in 1519, the ruler Montezuma greeted him with a heavenly drink made from cocoa beans and vanilla, and served in a pot of pure gold. It was something like the drink that we call hot chocolate. The Spanish had never tasted vanilla before, and they liked the drink so much that they took Vanilla plants back to Europe. Now the whole world likes foods flavored from the seed pod of the Vanilla plant. Vanilla plants can grow to 45 feet tall.
Before we loved orchids for their beauty, humans used orchids for food and medicine. The Greeks and Romans originated these prescriptions, and the Europeans continued on with them. Orchids were used to treat everything from tuberculosis, to skin ailments, to infertility, to inflammation, to nervous disorders. In Asia the most extensive use of orchids as medicine took place. In China a certain orchid was used to balance the body’s yin and ensure a long life. We now know that this orchid is poisonous when consumed in large quantities. In Sri Lanka orchids were made into an ointment and used to treat broken bones and contusions.
Orchids were also adopted by magicians to be used in the occult. In Europe orchids were used as anecdotes to witches spells. Some ancient tribes used the foliage of Dendrobium orchids to sweep the house immediately after someone died. They believed that this prevented death from returning to strike another member of the family.
In Central America and Australia orchids were used in ritual human sacrifices. The witch doctor smeared his arms with the juice from native orchids just before killing his victim.
In India people carried dried orchid stems to protect themselves from deadly bites by snakes. In Papua New Guinea baby girls were wrapped in leaves of local orchids to ensure health, strength, and a capacity for drudgery, all qualities necessary to acquire a husband.
From ancient times until the present, orchids appear in literature and art. In the 6th century BC, Confucius wrote that having good friends was like entering a room full of orchids. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, poor mad Ophelia was wearing purple orchids around her neck when she walked toward her suicide by drowning in a stream.
The Chinese have painted orchids throughout time. In the West, the American artist Georgia O’Keeffe created magnificent paintings of orchids.
Orchids are exotic and mysterious, beautiful and enchanting, erotic and romantic. They are irresistible, fascinating and addictive to those who love and collect them. They are magnificent flowers……….C. Gravens
2004 Calendar
All meetings are at 9:00 a.m. – on the first Saturday of each month (except July) – at different locations throughout St. Louis County. All are Free. No RSVP’s are required, everyone welcome. The Children’s Garden Club is designed to educate, as well as bring delight in gardening and horticulture with projects they start themselves and take home to continue to grow and enjoy.
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| January 3, 2004 |
Baisch & Skinner, Inc., 2721 LaSalle Street
Flower arranging |
| February 7, 2003 |
Sherwood’s Forest Nursery & Garden Center, 2651 Barrett Station Rd.
Orchids |
| March 3-7, |
Builder’s Home & Garden Show
America’s Center |
March 6, 2004 |
Sherwood’s Forest Nursery & Garden Center, 2651 Barrett Station Rd.
Bromeliads |
| April 3, 2004 |
Haefner’s Farm & Greenhouses, 6777 Telegraph Road
The Great Perennial Divide |
| May 1, 2004 |
Gilberg’s Perennial Farms, 2906 Ossenfort
Summer Bulbs |
| June 5, 2004 |
Gilberg’s Perennial Farms, 2906 Ossenfort
Water Gardening |
| July 10, 2004 |
Sherwood’s Forest Nursery & Garden Center, 2651 Barrett Station Rd.
Tropical - Hawaii |
| August 7, 2004 |
Gilberg’s Perennial Farms, 2906 Ossenfort
Plants from Around the World |
| September 4, 2004 |
Gilberg’s Perennial Farms, 2906 Ossenfort
Moon Gardening
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| October 2, 2004 |
Haefner’s Farm & Greenhouses, 6777 Telegraph Road
Pumpkin
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| November 6, 2004 |
Sherwood’s Forest Nursery & Garden Center, 2651 Barrett Station Rd.
Create a Bird Sanctuary in your landscape.
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| December 4, 2004 |
Sherwood’s Forest Nursery & Garden Center, 2651 Barrett Station Rd.
Holiday Plants
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