Orchids at Kew Gardens ✿ A Must See Orchid Extravaganza ✿
Orchids Festival At
Kew Gardens
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Kew Gardens is such a special place for me to visit every year. On 9th Feb. this year there was a four week celebration of Orchids held at the
Princess of Wales Conservatory called Orchids
Extravaganza which was extended till
Mothers Day.
This exhibition gave us the opportunity to walk through archways of ornate flowers and to look at the towering pillars of stunning floral displays. I was so fortunate to see this brilliant display of orchids and spending the whole day with them.
As the people were relaxing and roaming freely in the exhibition area I had to capture these beautiful orchids with a fair amount of difficulty. In one section of the event there was an area of scented orchids and it was unbelievable inside it. I still feel the aroma around them. I just thought of sharing this wonderful world of orchids with you all and you will also see what a rich selection of orchids it was.
I hope you will also visit the next part of this episode after having enjoyed the lovely orchids.
I had to interrupt my holiday video series as I had to share this
Orchid videos with you :)
Orchids - The Orchidaceae
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Orchids have long been a
symbol of love and beauty and grown by enthusiasts for their sheer elegance and fascination.
The Orchidaceae are a diverse and widespread family of flowering plants with colorful and fragrant blooms, commonly known as the orchid family.
With over 750 genera of orchids, over 30,
000 hybrids and more introduced every year, there is a huge variety of orchids to choose from for the orchid enthusiast. Indeed, orchids grow in every continent but
Antarctica, so a grower can choose between native orchids or introduced ones, depending on availability and suitability.
The number of orchid species equals more than twice the number of bird species, and about four times the number of mammal species.The family also encompasses about 6-11% of all seed plants.The largest genera are Bulbophyllum (2,000 species), Epidendrum (1,
500 species), Dendrobium (1,400 species) and Pleurothallis (1,000 species).
The family also includes
Vanilla (the genus of the vanilla plant), Orchis (type genus), and many commonly cultivated plants such as Phalaenopsis and Cattleya. Moreover, since the introduction of tropical species in the
19th century, horticulturists have produced more than
100,000 hybrids and cultivars.
The name comes from the
Greek ὄρχις (órkhis), literally meaning "testicle", because of the shape of the root.
Linnaeus categorized the family as Orchidaceae. Orchid was introduced in 1845 by
John Lindley in
School Botany, due to an incorrect attempt to extract the
Latin stem (orchis) from Orchidaceae.
Orchidaceae are cosmopolitan, occurring in almost every habitat apart from glaciers.
The world's richest concentration of orchid varieties is found in the tropics, mostly
Asia,
South America and
Central America, but they are also found above the
Arctic Circle, in southern
Patagonia.
All orchids are perennial herbs, lack any permanent woody structure, and can grow according to two patterns.
Like most monocots, orchids generally have simple leaves with parallel veins, although some Vanilloideae have a reticulate venation.
Leaves may be ovate, lanceolate, or orbiculate, and very variable in size. Their characteristics are often diagnostic. They are normally alternate on the stem, often plicate, and have no stipules. Orchid leaves often have siliceous bodies called stegmata in the vascular bundle sheaths and are fibrous.
The structure of the leaves corresponds to the specific habitat of the plant.
Species that typically bask in sunlight, or grow on sites which can be occasionally very dry, have thick, leathery leaves and the laminae are covered by a waxy cuticle to retain their necessary water supply.
Shade species, on the other hand, have long, thin leaves.
Orchidaceae are well known for the many structural variations in their flowers.Some orchids have single flowers, but most have
a racemose inflorescence, sometimes with a large number of flowers. The flowering stem can be basal, that is, produced from the base of the tuber.
The complex mechanisms which orchids have evolved to achieve cross-pollination were investigated by
Charles Darwin and described in his
1862 book
Fertilisation of Orchids.
A majority of orchids are perennial epiphytes, which grow anchored to trees or shrubs in the tropics and subtropics.
The scent of orchids is frequently analysed by perfumers to identify potential fragrance chemicals.
The other important use of orchids is their cultivation for the enjoyment of the flowers. Most cultivated orchids are tropical or subtropical, but quite a few which grow in colder climates can be found on the market.
Orchids have been used in traditional medicine in an effort to treat many diseases and ailments. They have been used as a source of herbal remedies in
China since
2800 BC.