An Orchids Species is Like a Member of A Family
An orchid species is the term used when making reference to the particular kind of orchid that belongs in a class or genera. Imagine that the genus is the full family, and the species are the individual members.
In the world of orchids there are a lot of species. The exact numbers of orchid species is not an established fact. One authority says there are more than twenty-two
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Countries such as Thailand have a grand variety of orchid species. The number is estimated to be more than fourteen hundred in the country. Some of them are wild or natural orchids and others are hybrids. The Vanda coerulea is one of those hybrids. This pretty blue flower shows a resemblance to its source.
The orchid species can be best explained as a separate biological class. The exact number of orchid species would outnumber combined bird and mammal species with a large margin to spare. I’d say that it is a whole lot of orchids.
The study of orchid species is recorded as far back as the eighteenth or nineteenth century. The Greeks highly regarded the orchid and famous people down the ages such as the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius have grown the orchid since the fifth century BC. History dictates that orchid species have been around for about one hundred and twenty million years. That would take it back to the Stone Age.
Most of the research and experimentation with orchid species were done in Europe. Records from 1787 from the Kew Royal Botanical Garden’s, show that the Epidendrum cochleatum flowered for its first time in that year and is since being cultivated to this day. In 1797 fifteen more orchid species came to be added to the list as well.
There are over thirty thousand different “wild” orchid species out there which have been documented so far. With this many different variants of the orchid one must be intrigued to know more about these beautiful flowers.
These multiple variants of the humble orchid are all different in color pattern, size, shape, and history. Their diversity can not be touched by any other single species of plants or animals out there. Their adaptability is uncanny, and can not be rivaled. Look at how they have adapted to changes and lasted through the millennia.
Most orchid species from the tropic countries have brilliant and bright colors, are larger and just plain exotic looking. Colors can be vivid and bright, or a little on the dull side. The contrasts are as captivating as the history of the species.
The scents of orchid species vary just like everything else we know about the orchid. Some orchids have a sweet, nice fragrance or scent ,while other kinds can be said to stink, yet others have no smell at all.
To further describe how diverse these plants can be, let us look at the vanilla orchid species. The vanilla flower is the most common orchid in the world. It is the most widely used orchid in foods, drinks, cosmetics, fragrances and perfumes. It can be found around the world, in North and South America, West Africa, Asia, and New Guinea. Vanilla orchids form roughly one hundred and ten orchid species. World renowned Coca Cola uses orchid seeds to flavor one of their products, which means that the flavoring is not artificial.
Today it is illegal to harvest orchids in the wild. Quite a few rare orchid species are facing extinction. Because of the dwindling of the environment, smugglers and collectors, the numbers of these natural wonders is also reducing. Thanks to scientists and horticulturists who help to keep many orchid species alive and thriving, we still get to see many variants of this beautiful flower.