Orchids - The Basic Things You Need to Know
Orchids are one of the most popular cultivated plants around the world which is identifiable by the colorful petals and the distinct, symmetrical flower shapes.They belong to family of Orchidaceae which is quoted as the largest genre in plant kingdom.
Orchids are beautiful and have attracted people for millenia. According to the botanical data, there are about eight hundred genus of Orchids, which account for over thirty thousand different species.
The orchid family is a diverse type of plant species which comes in a wide variety of types, depending upon the external features and characters. Orchids are grown everywhere in the world except for areas with extreme cold conditions like Antartica. They can grow in different types of habitat such as tundra, grassland, deserts, rainforest. However, majority of these flowering plants are widely distributed in tropical areas of South and Central America and in Asia. The abundance of orchid plants decreases as the temperature goes down.
Vast numbers of people are interested and aware about the growth habit of orchids. In general, these flowering plants are epiphytes and often cling to the trunks of the tree. Their roots are usually exposed and obtains nutrition and moisture from natural resources like rain and atmospheric air. Unlike parasite plant species, orchids do not cause any harm to their host plants. Other types like the lithophytic orchids and terrestrial orchids grow in rocks and soil respectively.
The pollination process of orchids is highly specialized. In fact, some species even produce an intense fragrance so as to attract their pollinating agents (e.g insects).
Orchids basically hold a reputation of exotic plants, and are previously grown under controlled conditions. But, growing these stunning flowering plants in outdoors and indoors is no longer a big challenge these days. Thanks to the improved hybridization approaches, it enables production of vast tropical orchid hybrids.
