Orchids Orchids
Orchids Orchids
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Odontocidium Sunny Daze ‘Hilo Bay’ 3 SPIKES Orchid Plant $17.00 |
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LOWEST PRICES FOR MAY! CASCADING BLOOM 1 CYMBIDIUM BULB WHITE ICE CASCADES $1.25 |
The Mystery Behind Growing Perfect Orchids by Jimmy Cox
The beginnings of the orchid family are shrouded in mystery. Since most orchids are epiphytic that is, having aerial roots through which they receive sustenance from the minerals in the moisture laden air of the tropics they have left no traces such as the fossilized remains of ground growing plants. Dr. E. Soysa, writing in Orchid Culture in Ceylon, advances the delightful and plausible, if unproved, theory that orchids antedated the fossil era, but in their love of light ascended trees to escape the advancing jungle.
There they lived, died, dried up, and floated away, leaving no trace. Whatever the genesis of the orchid family, it cannot be doubted that the orchid family is very old, judging both by its great variety and its highly complex structural development, attainable only through the passage of time.
The orchid is among the largest and most highly developed of the plant families, with some fifteen to twenty thousand species. A provident nature has lavished every means to insure the perpetuation of this favorite child. She has provided the flower with all the charm and allure of a fairy princess to win insect vassals to perform the service of cross pollination.
Nature has decreed that the orchid should be dependent on some outside insect agent, and the resultant relation is a beautiful example of cooperation between the plant and animal kingdoms. The highest means of perpetuation in plants, cross pollination is necessary in all but a very few species of orchids. In the few cases of self pollination the seeds are frequently infertile.
The insects performing the service of cross pollination vary with the species and are as diverse as the ingenious contrivances by which the orchids utilize them. It is in every case a reciprocal arrangement, the plant receiving the benefits of fertilization, the insect the largess of food and drink. Each species usually has its particular insect, as is shown by the special means each flower uses to attract its insect.
Darwin first noted a striking example of this specialization. On a trip to South America he had an opportunity to see a plant of Angraecum sesquipedale. This starry white flower, a rare orchid of Madagascar, has a weirdly elongated lip containing a nectary, about eleven inches long, that holds one and a half ounces of the sweet fluid produced by the sugar secreting glands. Darwin immediately predicted that some day a moth with a proboscis at least twelve inches long would be discovered to be responsible for cross pollination of this peculiar orchid.
In time such a moth was found and was duly named Xanthopan morgani praedicta. In this particular alliance it is probable that the moth would starve without the orchid and that the orchid would become extinct without the moth. Such high specialization has insured the purity of species that has marked the progress of the orchid family.
This specialization is reflected in the extremely varied forms of the reproductive organs. These organs lie within the lip, more scientifically known as the labellum, along a fleshy enlargement called the column. The anther bearing stamens are usually sealed together into the column, and a projection of this elongated fleshy organ is the rostellum, whose purpose seems to be to separate the pollen and the stigmatic cavity, thus minimizing the danger of self pollination.
The anthers produce tiny powdery grains of fertile pollen, usually held together by a mysterious viscid fluid that hardens on exposure to air and is not affected by wind or rain. The stigmatic cavity with its receptive ovum (egg) waits for the ‘marrying’ insect to deposit pollen from another flower.
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Article Source: http://www.earticlesonline.com/Article/The-Mystery-Behind-Growing-Perfect-Orchids/103207
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Odontocidium Sunny Daze ‘Hilo Bay’ 3 SPIKES Orchid Plant $17.00 |
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LOWEST PRICES FOR MAY! CASCADING BLOOM 1 CYMBIDIUM BULB WHITE ICE CASCADES $1.25 |
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2-Pack R73 Orchid Plant Opsistylis Suree ‘See’s’ AM/AOS SEEDLING SIZE $1.00 |
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Thai Orchid/Den.macrophyllum X self Hybrid 1 Flask(36-40 Plants) $79.00 |
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LOWEST PRICES FOR MAY! CASCADING BLOOM 1 CYMBIDIUM BULB BEAUTIFUL FLOSS LOLLIPOP $0.79 |
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Orchid Plant Blc. Volcano Delicious ‘Volcano Apricot’ Flowering Size. $19.99 |
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Orchid Plant Ascf. Cherry Blossom Flowering size in 3″ pot. $12.99 |
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Orchid Plant Blc. Hawaiian Leopard ‘Mel Ling’ Flowering size growing on wood $15.99 |
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Orchid Plant Pot. Elizabeth Palmer X Slc. Tutankamen Near Flowering Seedlings $15.99 |
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Orchid Plant Blc. Sangyan Beauty Flowering size plant. Great red. $15.99 |
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Rings – Clip on Rings 4″h x 3″d – 5 Pack $5.00 |
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Rings – Clip on Rings 5″h x 5″d – 5 Pack $6.25 |
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Miltonia Flavencens. $18.00 |
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Orchid Plant Cattleya walkeriana semi-alba Near flowering in 4″ plastic basket. $19.99 |
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Cymbidium goeringii,tien tong su, (天童素) , premium grade plant, very fragrant $44.99 |
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Orchid Plant Pot. Elizabeth Palmer Stunning Yellow Flowering Size $16.99 |
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Bc Maikai ‘Louise’ AM/AOS $18.95 |
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Orchid Plant Enc. randii Large flowered encyclia – fragrant Brazilian species $15.99 |
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Orchid Plant C. mossiae semi-alba ‘H&R’ $19.00 |
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Oncidium Lisa’s Delight ‘Rayna’ Blooming Size Orchid Plant Shipped in 4″ Pot $10.95 |
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Milwaukee Instruments PH600AQ Ph Tester With 1 Point Manual Calibration $16.99 The Milwaukee Instruments pH Pen, PH600 is an easy to use pH meter. It features +- 0.2 Accuracy, one-point calibration and a long battery life (hours of continuous use). Calibration solution not included…. |
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Wilton Gum Paste Flowers Set $19.00 With this set, you’ll open a new world of decorating possibilities for your cakes. Cut petals and leaves used to make exquisite gum paste flowers with the great variety of cutters and ejectors included. Cutters are comfortable to hold, with a contoured top and precise cutting edges. Ejectors cut blossom and hydrangea shapes, then imprint beautiful texture on both sides using the custom impression … |
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HM Digital COM-100 Waterproof EC/TDS/TEMP Meter $54.95 Three different calibration options (KCl, 442TM, NaCl), each with its own non-linear conversion factor. Automatic Temperature Compensation (ATC) using three temperature coefficients. Digital Calibration (push button). Auto-off function, data-hold function and low-battery indicator. Display: large and easy-to-read LCD screen includes simultaneous temperature reading. Factory Calibrated with a… |
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Orchid $7.97 All products are BRAND NEW and factory sealed. Fast shipping and 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed…. |
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Brother Orchid [VHS] $8.15 In Lloyd Bacon’s Brother Orchid (1940), Humphrey Bogart is relegated to supporting status while Edward G. Robinson plays “Little John” Sarto, a comic variant of guess-who who decides to retire as mob boss and pursue “class” by collecting art in Europe (an inside joke on Robinson’s real-life standing as art connoisseur?). After blowing his fortune, Sarto attempts to reclaim his old job, which his f… |
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Wild Orchid II: Two Shades of Blue [VHS] $16.50 … |
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Black Orchid [VHS] $14.95 Making artificial flowers as a way of coping with her great loss, Rose’s life changes when she meets widower Frank Valente, played by Academy Award™ winner Anthony Quinn. The two fall in love and decide to get married, but before they can say “I do,” Frank must win over Rose’s daughter who does not approve of their union…. |
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Safer Brand 5118 Insect Killing Soap – 16-Ounce Concentrate $8.01 5118 Features: -Houseplant insect killing soap.-Environmentally friendly.-Use on houseplants, ornamental foliage plants, flowering plants, fruits and vegetables.-Kills aphids, mealy bugs, spider mites and whiteflies.-Does not harm beneficial insects.-Can be used up to day of harvest.-24 Ounce size…. |