Facts and Pictures Of Orchids III

Orchids vary greatly in color and shape. But all orchids have the same bilateral and symmetrical flower structure. The flower has three petals. One of the petals usually the lower part of the flower, is distinct in shape and at times in color. The club shape structure in the center called column constitutes the reproductive organs. The other three sometimes looks like the petals in color and shape are the sepals. The dorsal sepal is in between the two petals and the other two lateral sepals are on each side of the lip call labellum.




For centuries orchids have been the symbol of beauty. To Greeks, an orchid is a symbol of virility. To the Chinese the word orchid means love.



Chinese started using orchids 4,0000 years ago. They started cultivating orchids for aesthetic as well as for medicinal purposes. Confucius revered orchids for its beauty. Sheng Mung a Chinese emperor had used the dendrobrium as medicine.


During the medieval period, soldiers all over the world used orchids as herbal remedies. And as the British started colonizing tropical countries where orchids are abundant, attracted with its beauty started shipping orchids back to England. It was during the 18th century when William Cattley a British noticed a very ugly stem inside the box shipped to him. He planted the ugly stem along with the rest of the shipment. November within that year the ugly stem bore the most beautiful and largest orchid flower he ever saw. Named it Cattleya after his name.



There are more than 800 genera of orchids with around 50,000 species. The simplest way to categorized orchids is how they grow. Orchids have two patterns of growth one is sympodial and the other is monopodial. Most orchids are sympodial. Pattern of growth is horizontal. New stems grow along the roots. Cattleya, dendrobium and oncidium are examples of orchids that are sympodial. A monopodial orchid is an orchid that has one erect stem. Pattern of growth is vertical. Angraccum, phalaenopsis and vandas are examples of monopodial orchids