A Look at Ochids, by Regions
Of the incredible array of flowering plants on our earth, orchids easily wield the most fascination. Not only are they beautiful, but their life stories often have a bit of mystery and wonder clinging to them. Although distributed widely, many can only be found in isolated or exotic locations–impenetrable rain forests, the sides of volcanoes, mucky swamps, for examples.
Beginning quite seriously in the nineteenth century, orchid enthusiasts have devoted years and lifetimes to discovering as well as cultivating new types of these flowering delights. Although most orchids are gotten these days from growers that specialize in cultivating these plants, many of them being developed through hybridizing, it is good to know something of their origins in nature.
Orchids are herbacious plants encompassing tens of thousands of known species, with still more being discovered.They show an astouding range of color and shape, which has added greatly to public fascination with them. Gardeners often take pleasure in maintaining a wide variety of orchids to show off their mastery of the art of cultivation.
Orchids grow in practically every part of the earth — the exceptions being the deserts and the polar regions. Some 85% of all orchid species originate in the tropics or subtropics, but this still leaves a large number that come from colder regions. In some parts of the Himalayas orchids constitute the most abundantly represented family of plants in terms of sheer number of species.
By far the greatest number of orchids occur in three large tropical belts:
- Tropical Africa (including islands to the east in the Indian Ocean). These mostly belong to the genera (families) Angnecum, Bulbophyllum and Disa. Orchids from here have not been as widely cultivated as ones originating from the other tropical zones, but Africa nevertheless harbors many species of interest.
- Tropical Asia. This region, which covers Indonesia and other islands, along with mainland Southeast Asia, is particularly rich in orchid genera. Typical of the region are the large genera Dendrobium, Eria and Bulbophyllum and many smaller ones as well.
- Tropical America. This region embraces Mexico, Central America and the tropical parts of South America. Isolated from other parts of the world for eons, this region has an especially large number of endemic genera of orchids, many of which include hundreds of species. Among the large indigenous genera are Epidendrum, Pleurothallis and Oncidium; many smaller genera found here also contribute more than their share to orchids that have found favor among cultivators the world over.
The temperate zones of the southern hemisphere also furnish many orchids, though not nearly so abundantly as do the tropics. In southern Africa the Disa and Calanthe genera furnish a few species judged valuable to cultivation. Australia contains many genera in common with the tropical Asia. Southernmost South America boasts many temperate-zone orchids, but they are unfortunately overshadowed by those
from the vaster tropical-zone part of the continent.
In the northern hemisphere’s temperate zones, we should mention the United States and particularly the northeastern and New Englad regions, as well as Canada. There we find about 20 native genera, whose member species grow mostly in swamps and moist grounds. The most familiar of these are the Cypripediuins or Lady Slippers.
Europe also has many native orchids, but undoubtedly the most famous and showy is the Bee Orchid (Ophrys apifera). The Bee Orchid grows on dry or semi-dry turf, often in open areas within woodlands. Bee Orchids are common near the Mediterranean coast of Europe, and grows (albeit less abundantly) as far north as Germany and the UK.
Orchids differ greatly in the ease with which they may be grown, although for the most part they are not the difficult plants that folk wisdom would have it. The most up-to-date guide to today’s orchid cultivation, many agree, is Orchid Care Expert by Nigel Howard, which can be downloaded from the web. Mr. Howard’s guide is a complete course in itself, suitable for novices as well as the more experienced. Also, visit the Orchid Secrets web site, which has a growing library of articles on all facets of orchid cultivation.
