The Peruvian Orchid Club [About Orchids]


	About Orchids Orchidaceae taxonomic tree Orquidaceae is probably the largest family of plants with flower. Estimations suggest an existence of 30,000 species, adapted to the most diverse habitats, from Lithophytes, (orchids growing on rocks); or species as strange as Rhizantella gardneri, a subterranean orchid from Australia, that only sees the sun when it flowers; to Platystele stenostachya, an orchid with a flower so small it measures only 1 millimeter. Orchids can be found also as big plants with stalks of 3 to 4 meters producing dozens of flowers per plant like the Peruvian species Sobralia dichotoma naturally growing at Machu Picchu.	Browse here the new additions to our web site New picture of genus Aa! New species! Stanhopea marizaiana Jenny 2003
Cyrtochilum weberbauerianum (Kraenzl.) Kraenzl. 1917	Orchids have conquered almost every habitat on earth being absent only in Antarctica, the North Pole and in the most arid deserts. Orchids can be found in the wet forests of South America, in the Himalayas, in the tundras, the Andes, the everglades of Florida, etc. Although it may seem strange, the word orchid derives from “testicle” (from the greek orchis). This family was named like that because some terrain orchids species from Greece develop tuberoids witch resemble animal testicles.	New species! Stanhopea manriquei Jenny 200
Cattleya intermedia Graham 1828	Orchids can be found presenting practically all forms, colors, and scents. All this being part of diverse reproductive strategies. Orchids are among the most	Encyclia cyperifolia (C. Schweinf.) Carnevali & Ramirez
Catasetum viridiflavum Hooker 1843 foto© Eric Hunt, www.orchidphotos.org	developed monocotyledonous being very wise to reproduce, collect water, food and store it. It is also very interesting the existing symbiosis made with some types of root fungi from which the orchids nourish. As a reference, the most cultivated interior flower in the United States is an Orchid, the Phalaenopsis, native from south east of Asia. It is estimated that Peru has around 3000 species, as diverse as Chlorea pavonii growing in the Andean valleys up to 3100 meters high to the spectacular and worldly known Cattleya rex, native of Moyobamba in the eastern slopes of the Andes.	Comparettia falcata Poeppig & Endlicher 1835
Lycaste longipetala (Ruiz & Pavón) Garay 1798	Few people know for example, that vanilla comes from an orchid, or that in Cuzco in time of the Incas there was a love story based in a beautiful orchid of red flowers (Masdevallia veitchiana). This flower, according to many specialists, is one of the most beautiful orchids in the world and has been honored with a FCC (First Class Certificate) the most important award of the American Orchid Society. The “official history” of orchids, or better said, its world public recognition was given in 1818 by a casualty. On those years, the Victorian Great Britain had several explorers dispersed in many regions of the planet. Therefore an explorer called Swainson who was collecting moss and lichen in South America for a horticulturist called William Cattley, was using the pseudobulbs and the fleshy leaves of the plants that grew in the Amazon jungle to secure the moss packages, without knowing he was going to awake the world’s fascination for this generous family of plants. Back in Great Britain, the pseudobulbs produced -beautiful lavender flowers.	Pleurothallis aggeris Luer 1996
Masdevallia amaluzae Luer & Malo 1978	The name of this horticulturist was associated to this species as Cattleya. A big commotion was generated around the world for the orchids, which has been positive and negative. The positive side is that the passion for the orchids preserved species extinct in its natural habitats, as its happening in Peru with the Chlorea pavonii and now Phragmipedium kovachii and other species. The negative side is that complete habitats have been destroyed and burned by collectors only to be able to own in their collections the last survivors of extinguished species and to be able to sell them at exorbitant prices.	Epidendrum purum Lindley 1844
Masdevallia coccinea Linden ex Lindl. 1794, foto© Eric Hunt www.orchidphotos.org	Nowadays, the orchid is the plant with more fans, reunited in societies and clubs worldwide. Taxonomists are having big trouble with the new genetic information and the new species that are being discovered. Some people consider the most primitive orchid, the Apostasia and the Neuwiedia, as part of a new family. It is very difficult to define the limits of such a big and diverse family. Orchids are distinguished from other families of plants because of a combination of flower characteristics instead of a common characteristic of the group. The flowers bloom in groups called “peduncles” and rotate 180º so the mature flower can grow in an inverted form.	Masdevallia caudata Lindl. 1833 foto© Eric Hunt, www.orchidphotos.org
Masdevallia manoloi C.A. Luer & M. Arias 1998 foto© Eric Hunt www.orchidphotos.org	Of the 3 sepals of the flower and 2 of the lateral petals are usually very similar in form and color. The third petal is called the lip, which is usually bigger than the rest and different in form and color, having a lobed form. The lip always acts as a “landing strip” for the pollinator which is attracted through different shapes and patterns of color. The pollinators go from little mosquitoes, flies, moths, bees and bumblebees to little birds like humming birds. Many orchids are specialized to be pollinated by only one pollinator. However the most recognized characteristic of the orchids and that makes them different from the rest of the plants with flower is the fusion of the male part of the plant (stamen) and the female part (pistil) in the column. The column is located in the opposite side of the lip.	Pleurothallis matudana C. Schweinfurth
Brassia aurorae D.E. Bennett 1992	The majority of orchids present only one anther (structure for the pollen production), however in some two can found. The pollen is not granulated like in the majority of the plants, it is aggregated in mass or sacks that vary in texture depending on the species. Three stigmatic lobes (receptive areas of pollen) are usually present near the anther although only two usually are functional. The ovary is covered by a peduncular tissue. The ovary contains numerous ovules that mature in very small seeds or in only one undifferentiated embryo. The seeds are produced in capsules and each one can produce up to 2 million seeds in some species. Orchid seeds don’t have food storing methods, being this the reason why most of them die if the don’t get into a symbiotic relationship with the root fungi. Orchidaceae taxonomic tree Kingdom Plantae Phylum Magnoliophyta Class Liliopsida Family Orchidaceae	Pleurothallis cordata (Ruiz & Pavón) Lindley 1830
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