AboutOrchids

You might laugh if asked if you eat orchids. So you’d probably be astonished to learn that you might be eating orchids everyday, possibly hundreds or even thousands of them. There could be orchids in your kitchen right now, and you might eat them at every meal. That’s because natural vanilla extract comes from the Vanilla orchid. Those little black specks in vanilla ice cream are orchid seeds, and part of the fascinating story of an unusual orchid.

The vast majority of orchids are not edible, but a few kinds are. Vanilla is, by far, the most valuable orchid food product. It’s also the only orchid that grows as a vine. There are dozens of different Vanilla species from tropical areas of the world, but the one that is usually grown commercially is called Vanilla planifolia. This plant is native to southern Florida, Mexico, the West Indies, Central America, and parts of South America. Originally cultivated by native peoples in Mexico, it’s now grown in many tropical areas around the world as a crop. The ancient Aztecs used it to spice up their chocolate drinks, and now it’s used in everything from ice cream to baked goods, and even for perfumes and tobacco flavoring.

While the flowers may look like Cattleyas, Vanillas are more closely related to Epidendrums. The flowers stay open less than a day, and are pollinated by hand when in cultivation. After pollination, seedpods start to form, taking as long as 9 months to mature on the vine. To develop their rich flavor, the seedpods are picked, dried, and cured, in a complex process that takes several months more. The difficulties of cultivation and curing make vanilla the second most expensive spice, after saffron. Madagascar and Indonesia are the world’s largest vanilla producers.

Healthy Vanilla vines are heavy and can stretch over 100 feet (30 m.) These tropical vines require warm temperatures and regular watering, so they’re not easy to grow at home. Commonly called vanilla beans, the dried and cured seed capsules are slender and brown. If you’ve ever used one in the kitchen, you know that when you cut it open, there are thousands of small black specks, which are the seeds. You can enjoy their delicious flavor and scent, but since they’ve been dried and cured, the seeds won’t grow. Synthetic substitutes for the flavor have been used for decades. In the USA, bottles labeled as “vanilla extract” are authentic orchid products, and bottles labeled as “vanilla flavoring” are artificial.

Whether you’re an orchid lover or a chef, there are plenty of reasons to love vanilla. I bet you’ll never look at a bowl of vanilla ice cream in the same way again.

The typically elusive ghost orchid, made famous in the bestselling book The Orchid Thief and the movie Adaptation, is readily visible for those near Naples, Florida. For decades, some orchid lovers have braved mosquito and alligator-infested swamps, only to leave disappointed without even a glimpse of the rare and unusual beauty. Now, a trip to the Audubon Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary provides an easy way to see a great specimen blooming in the wild, all from the comfort of a public boardwalk. The sanctuary does recommend that you bring your binoculars, since the plant is high up in a tree. This bizarre orchid has stunning white flowers and no leaves (the chlorophyll is in the roots.) Although it is endangered in its natural habitat, ghost orchid plants which are legally grown from seed can be purchased from reputable vendors like this one.

The Orchid Conservation Coalition (OCC) is a grassroots organization devoted to raising awareness and money for orchid conservation. The OCC directs donations to conservation groups all over the world, including those working in the Amazon and other orchid hotspots. As a coalition of individuals, orchid societies, businesses, and non-profits, the OCC provides vital support for protection of orchids. Some of their innovative programs include 1 % for Orchid Conservation and the Living Orchid Collection, and they also organize an expert speakers bureau.

Recently, the OCC celebrated a victory by helping the endangered Rosella Spider Orchid of Australia. After reading about the threat to this orchid on the OCC’s website, a philanthropist stepped forward with a large donation. Many more victories like this are needed around the globe. Individuals can support the OCC by volunteering, encouraging orchid societies and businesses to join their programs, and spreading the word about the urgent need for orchid conservation. The OCC also links to non-profit conservation groups which can accept donations directly.

At an orchid show several years ago, I spotted a neglected plant on a back table for only $3. Since it had a flower spike starting to grow, it seemed like a great bargain to me, and I bought it. The orchid was this beautiful Miltonidium, which has bloomed repeatedly for me, so I definitely consider it a smart investment.

This orchid is a hybrid, a human-made cross between a Miltonia and an Oncidium. Like all plant hybrids, it combines traits from both parents. With dozens of small, fragrant flowers, it also exemplifies “hybrid vigor.” The term hybrid vigor refers to the tendency of hybrid plants to be easy to grow and bloom, and also tough enough to survive difficult conditions. These characteristics make hybrids excellent choices for orchid beginners, since they are more forgiving of mistakes than species. Hybrids can also have larger, more frequent, and longer-lasting blooms.

This large spray of flowers may be a nice demonstration of hybrid vigor, but it also makes the orchid top-heavy and prone to tip over. I keep the plant within a heavy ceramic pot, and I’ve even tried to weigh it down with a rock on the flowerpot, but it can still topple. Even with some slightly bruised flowers, I couldn’t ask for a better bargain.

From Chattanooga to Honolulu to Warrawong, orchid shows are a fun way to see beautiful tropical blooms, meet local orchid experts, and otherwise feed any orchid addiction. Don’t miss these great events taking place all over the globe.

It’s always a pleasant surprise to find stories in the news about orchids, and lately I’ve seen a handful about native orchids blooming in Britain and North America. This recent article from the Times of London provides a great account of how native British orchids are thriving this year. Although less well-known than their tropical cousins, temperate orchids are fascinating in their own right, and many are just as beautiful as any showy Cattleya or Phal.

This article also provides insight into how poorly understood many of these temperate orchids are. Often, little is known about their precise growing requirements, or why they’re plentiful in one year and absent the next. Unfortunately, some overly-enthusiastic orchid growers can take an article like this as permission to do some local orchid hunting, and they return home with a plant yanked out of the ground, or some unusual cut flowers to sit in a vase. Sadly, this is one of the major dangers to the survival of these orchid species. Without the plant or the flower, the orchid cannot reproduce, and will soon perish. Plants that are removed from the wild for personal collections rarely survive, since even expert growers cannot duplicate the necessary natural conditions. All of these native orchids are also protected by law, and removing or damaging them is illegal. If you’re fortunate enough to spot a wild growing orchid, take away only pictures and memories, and leave nature to care for itself.

Orchids need healthy leaves to survive and thrive. If your orchid’s leaves look unhappy, take this list of common problems as a starting point to your diagnosis. Notice that some symptoms appear several times for different causes. For instance, certain signs of overwatering and underwatering are the same.

It helps to pay attention to the look and feel of your orchid’s leaves when the plant is healthy, so then you’ll have a good frame of reference to recognize a problem. While any one of these symptoms can indicate a problem, not every dark spot or yellow leaf is cause for concern. For example, older leaves (those lower on the plant) may yellow, develop spots, split down the middle, or fall off entirely. This is okay, as long as healthy new leaves are growing.

If you’re welcoming today’s summer solstice by enjoying some time outdoors, it’s always a good idea to keep your eyes open for whatever surprises nature can offer. Some can be so petite that they’re easy to overlook, but I find it’s often worth the effort to be observant. Case in point: these delightful Orchis flowers, which span less than 3/4 inch (2 cm,) and sit atop tiny plants whose stems are only 2 inches tall (5.1 cm.)  This uncommon and unusual little charmer is native to Japan, where it grows in damp grasslands, mossy cliffs, and rock crevices. Its Japanese name means “butterfly wing orchid,” an apt description of the tiny blooms.

With just a few narrow leaves on a stem, it looks more like a grass than an orchid. The mini plants emerge from small tubers in the spring, and can be grown like tulips or daffodils. I planted these in rich, sandy potting soil. In the fall, they’ll start to lose their leaves, and then go completely dormant for winter. Japanese growers have developed several color varieties, ranging from shades of purple to pink to yellow.

In case you’re wondering about the similarity of the name Orchis to the word orchid, it’s not just a coincidence. Relatives of this Japanese orchid live around the Mediterranean, and they were some of the first orchids known to ancient Greeks and Romans. Over time, as Europeans discovered more kinds of orchids, the Orchis genus lent its name to the entire orchid family.

Here are some more photos from the tropical rainforest exhibit at the California Academy of Sciences. The first set shows 2 kinds of Epidendrums. With fragrant green, white, and purple flowers, Epidendrum paniculatum is a common species found from Mexico and Belize south to Brazil and Argentina. There are several color varieties of this species throughout its large range. The last picture in this set shows a different Epidendrum species with a solid purple color.

I have several readers who are butterfly lovers, and I promised some more pictures. These stunning beauties were flying all over the exhibit, but they don’t sit still for long, so taking pictures is a challenge. There are 2 more shots of poison dart frogs, named because Amazon natives used poisons from the frogs’ skins on the tips of blowdarts. The colorful frogs are tiny, under 1 inch (2.5 cm) long. Most species are critically endangered because of habitat destruction, climate change, and pollution. The Academy of Sciences works for conservation of these frogs and many more rare species, including endangered orchids.

Here are even more butterflies. Along with the blue gecko in the last photo, they show a little tropical color from this amazing Academy of Sciences exhibit.

The California Academy of Sciences, located in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, is one of the world’s largest natural history museums. Among the many exhibits, the museum contains a remarkable 4-story rainforest housed in a dome. Inside the glass sphere, a spiral ramp allows visitors to explore the rainforest, starting on the ground and heading into the tops of the trees.

This Rainforests of the World exhibit features the flora and fauna of Indonesia, Costa Rica, and Madagascar. It’s no surprise that orchids abound. Here are pictures of a few examples: a Phalaenopsis species, an unusual Calanthe orchid from tropical Africa, and a jewel orchid with fascinating leaves. All enjoy the constant warm temperatures and high humidity inside the dome.

More than just a flower show, the exhibit provides an opportunity to see how orchids grow in the wild. The first photo in this next set shows how orchids grow as epiphytes, or air plants, along with bromeliads, ferns, and vines. By using their roots to hold on to trees, epiphytes take advantage of brighter light than they could receive on the shady forest floor. The 2nd photo shows an orchid attached to a branch. While some roots hold fast to the bark, others stick out in the humid air to catch moisture and nutrients. The 3rd photo shows orchids attached to a tree trunk. In the wild, the white roots hold on to the vertical surface, even in the face of strong winds and violent storms.

That’s a small sample of the flora, and here are some of the fauna. Butterflies pollinate some species of orchids in the wild. These beauties paused long enough for our cameras. In the final photo, the bright colors of a poison dart frog advertise its bad taste to predators. They all play their parts in complex webs of life of tropical rainforests, and also this remarkable rainforest in a bubble.