about orchids

ORCHIDS, the most beautiful flowers in god's creation, comprise a unique group of plants. Taxonomically, they represent the most highly evolved family among monocotyledons with 600-800 genera and 25,000-35,000 species . Orchids exhibit an incredible range of diversity in size, shape and colour of their flowers. They are most pampered of the plants and occupy top position among all the flowering plants valued for cut flower production and as potted plants. They are known for their longer lasting and bewitchingly beautiful flowers which fetch a very high price in the international market.

Theophrastus, who is also called the father of botany (370-285 BC), gave the name "ORCHIDS" to the group of bizarre plants on the basis of the resemblance of paired underground tubers of these plants to masculine anatomy (the testes). This resemblance was also responsible for the mistaken belief that the orchids posses aphrodisiac properties and eating of underground tubers might "provoke venus" and they may beget male children.

In the Indian Vedic scriptures there is a mention of the plants under the name "VANDA", which has been adapted as a generic name in one of the most beautiful group of orchids. Most of the orchids are perennial herbs with simple leaves. Although the specialized flower structure conforms to a standard plan, the vegetative parts are shown great variation, a large number of them being epiphytes, or terrestrial and a few saprophytes and leafless in nature. Majority of the cultivated orchids are native of tropical countries and occur in their greatest diversity in humid tropical forest of South and Central America, Mexico, India, Ceylon, Burma, South China, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, New Guinea and Australia. Brazilian cattleyas, Mexican laelias and Indian dendrobiums, cymbidiums and vandas have played a major role in the development of modern orchid industry in the world.

The evolution of orchid culture from hobbyist to commercial grower was very slow as most of the orchids collected from different regions did not adapt to local conditions and died. The methods of propagation were not known and most of the orchids which flowered under utmost care were found to be self sterile. Further, it was difficult to germinate the seeds, which lacks any functional endosperm. The seeds sown in the nursery beds required long period of germination and any disturbance to the soil or physical environment destroyed the whole population.

It was only in 1821 when Conrad Loddiges and sons started growing orchid plants commercially at their nursery in Hackney, followed by John Daminy of M/s Veitch & Sons who produced the first orchid hybrid between two Calanthe species in 1852, which flowered in 1856 in Veitch Nursery Exeter, England . This was followed by a large number of man made hybrids produced by hobbyists and small growers. In 1913, Sun Kee Nursery, Singapore, started the first cut-flower production of Arachnis type hybrids.

The major developments in cultivation of orchids in the world have been due to modern scientific technology which has been suitably used in case of orchid seed germination and meristem culture. Today orchids are grown on assembly-line method in extensive glasshouses with controlled environment and the sale of orchid flowers runs in millions of dollars. The modern methods of propagation have bought orchid cultivation on par with other commercial crops.

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