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Orchids have an infinite variety. There are about 25,000
species of Orchids. Add to that another 60,000 hybrids that
have been produced through artificial means and you have a
mind-boggling range. To this nearly a thousand new varieties
are added every year.
The word Orchid comes from the ancient Greek word 'Orchis'
meaning testicle. The man considered the father of botany,
Theophrastos, coined this word. He succeeded Aristotle as
head of the lyceum in Athens. He chose this name as the bulb
of the orchid resembled a testicle, or so he thought.
Given the variety of orchids that exist it's difficult to
give a very exact description. All orchids have flowers that
are symmetrical about their middle line. Most of the flowers
are delicate and they come in almost every color imaginable.
In fact no other flower family enjoys so many different
flower types as the orchid. In general those from Africa are
white flowered and those from Asia are multicolored. All the
flowers are beautiful, but they vary greatly in appearance
depending upon what kind of insect or bird they are trying
to attract.
The insect is encouraged to land on the lip of the orchid by
a variety of sights and smells. There is, for example, an
orchid called the Bumblebee Orchid that manages to both look
and smell like a female bee, and consequently passing males
cannot resist it! There is even a species, Bulbophyllum,
that gives off a smell like rotting flesh to encourage flies
to visit it and spread its pollen...
How orchids grow also varies enormously. In colder climates
orchids tend to grow with their bulbs underground, but in
warmer, tropical areas many orchids will be found attached
to tree trunks. Though they fasten to the tree, they don't
take any nutrients from the tree itself, so are not
classified as parasites. These tree-growing orchids are
what's known as epiphytes (or 'air-plants') and derive their
energy from sunlight. There are even orchids, found mainly
in Australia, that grow on rock.
Aside from their breathtaking beauty which has caused them
to become such popular cultivated flowers, the orchid also
has some other uses. For example, Vanilla, the favorite
flavoring of pastry chefs the world over, is harvested from
a species of orchid, the Vanilla Orchid, that originated in
Mexico.
The bulbs of an underground species of orchid are used to
make a famous dessert product in Turkey. This dessert is
eaten with a knife and fork and is called 'selepi dondurma'
meaning fox- testicle ice cream. When you admire an orchid
now, keep in mind these interesting facts.
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