Orchids

You've probably seen an orchid before. They have distinctive flowers and are popular to give as gifts, but how much do you really know about them?

Hopefully more by the end of this post!

Quick overview:

- Taxonomy + Naming

- History

- Use/history pt. 2

- Anatomy

- Cultivation + Environment

Taxonomy + Naming

The term "orchid" can refer to any plant in the family Orchidaceae which covers around/over 28,000 currently accepted species through 763ish genera. It's one of the two largest families of flowering plants, but because we're constantly discovering more, it's hard to say which one is biggest. In addition to recognized species, there are over ten thousand cultivated varieties (cultivars) and hybrids. You may recognize some commonly cultivated orchid genera, such as Vanilla, Orchis, or Cattleya, to name a few. Now about the names. Orchis is what we call the "type genus," or the genus the entire family is named after. It comes from the Ancient Greek ὄρχις (orkhis), meaning "testicle" because of the way the root system is structured (more on that later). In Middle English, some orchids were referred to as bollockwort - bollock = testicle, wort = plant

History

Orchids are really, really, really old. The Vanilla genus is estimated to be 60-70 million years old, and the family overall 100-200 million years old. This was determined using some geography, phylogenetics (how closely related things are), physical evidence such as preserved pollen, and a mix of some other fancy techniques. The first recorded mention of orchids is by a student of Aristotle around 300 B.C. Like many exotic plants, they spread rapidly in the 19th century when rich people decided that wacky looking green things were a sign of status and they look kinda cool. In the late 1890s, someone by the name of Wells wrote a Little Shop of Horrors - esque book about the orchid. Understandable honestly, some of them are clingy climbers and the plants in general look quite odd. Orchids were super trendy because they're exotic and some smell nice and look pretty, but then some problems came because where there's money, there's poaching. Luckily, cultivated orchids are easy to get now and they are very pretty.

Uses

Okay so orchids look nice and all, but what do we do with them? Vanilla is an entire genus and I bet you will never guess what that one's used for. They are popular in the perfume and fragrance industry and they have lots of interesting things for biologists to study - perhaps I will pick some specific species and do more things on orchids at a later date. Orchid history and evolution from a biological standpoint is quite fascinating, some do funky things to bees...but honestly the family is so big it's impossible to do them justice in an introduction like this.

Anatomy

There's a lot of fancy botanist words that go into orchid nomenclature so for readability I will be condensing and simplifying even more than usual. To start, there are two basic categories: monopodial and sympodial. Monopodial orchids just grow one stem for their entire lives, whereas sympodial orchids are more creeping and follow a supporting surface. Some kinds of orchids have two tubers: one that acts as storage, and one that is doing the growing. Epiphytic orchids (those that grow on other plants) have aerial roots, which are a specialized kind of rootsy thing that grow out of the soil and provide support for the plant, as well as absorb moisture from the air. The leaves are pretty basic - often waxy, simple veining, bent in the middle. Some kinds of orchids don't have leaves because they are somewhat parasitic, or they have very decorative and practically useless leaves, or they photosynthesize with their roots, which is very cool. Orchid flowers have 3 petals, 3 ovary chambers, and 3 sepals, which are the more leafy looking parts under a flower that sometimes cling to the petals and act as support. Usually one petal is quite radically modified to provide a ledge for pollinating insects to land on. In most orchid genera, the entire flower often does a 180 so the ledge is positioned at an advantageous pollination position. Interesting thing about orchid seeds: many are dependent on fungi for germination which can pose a problem depending on their environment.

Cultivation + Environment

Warm place, infrequent watering, decent light but not strong or full sun - orchids grow in tropical forests! They'll appreciate good humidity, so a bathroom window would be a solid choice, or give them a lil spritz every now and again. Contrary to popular opinion, they are very easy, one of the easiest plants I own. Treat it with a little bit of love, don't chop of weird green tubey things you see growing in the air because aerial roots do have a purpose, and you're good to go!

Many orchids are epiphytes, as I mentioned before. The entire reason I chose to write this one about orchids is because I discovered orchids independently became epiphytes not once, not twice, but fourteen times. At least. Orchids have independently evolved to climb, cling, and sometimes leech off of other plants at least fourteen times. I was absolutely blown away when I found this out.

Orchids!