Digging the heart of an orchid
By Gustavo Morejon
9 Jul 2009
Ecuador is probably the country with the highest number of species of orchids in the World in a given area. With 214 genus and around 3259 species (According to Dodson & Escobar, in "Native Ecuadorean Orchids", vol 1), it is so rich that we can find orchids almost everywhere we go in the country.
Their beauty and colors have inspired thousands of artists and attracted millions of enthusiasts around the World. This flower have something that captures your attention from the very first time you see one. I have to admit that I was seduced to this plants because I study entomology (Yeap, I deal with insects). I was looking for a certain kind of bee when I discovered by accident that there was an orchid that attracted that bee.
Believe it or not, the structure of that orchid was perfectly adapted to capture for a few seconds the bee and make it carry the "polinia" on its back. Was I looking to an intelligent behavior ... in a plant? WOW !!!
Since then, I saw orchids from a different perspective. Their structures are always adapted to seduce some kind of insect. The structures that I am presenting in this series are all designed to capture the attention of an insect and make it prisoner for a few seconds. When you look at it, try to guess how it works. Colors and forms are combined to perform an amazing dance with only one objective: "To find someone to carry the polen to another orchid of the same specie" and doing so, perpetuate the specie. Orchids are, in fact, the masters of seduction.
1 response
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Jason Pepe gave props (15 Jul 2009):
Enjoyed reading your article. Well done!!
