In the early nineteenth century wealthy Europeans collected orchids from the new world to have the latest finds in their greenhouses from the outer reaches of civilization. Elaborate greenhouses held collections of plants from around the world and status was measured by how many orchids you had in your collection. The average man or woman had no means of acquiring or maintaining these plants. Collectors paid explorers for long voyages into the wilderness of far-off countries to plunder the botanical riches to be found there. We can safely assume that these orchid collectors used their orchids for their beauty but also to establish or maintain status and power socially.
Orchids are difficult to rear from seed without a sterile environment. As a result, plants remained very expensive until sterile flasking procedures became widespread in the early 1920’s. This made it more possible for those with less money to afford to have these exotic plants. When it became possible to produce plants by mericloning, many plants could be produced from small new growth nodes that are exactly like the parent plant. This made the price of plants plummet to affordable prices for the masses. Now we have a very different environment surrounding the industry of producing orchid plants.
In today’s modern world we can order plants on the internet covering the majority of species of orchids of the world. For many decades hybrids had the spotlight for most growers, new and old. Now there is definitely much more interest in the exotic and unusual orchids as they grow in the wild. This has always been the case for me. Although many hybrids are definitely beautiful, those that grow naturally in the wild (what little there is left) are intriguing to me because of the range of shape, color, means of pollination, size, and of course specialization in every aspect. As the most highly evolved flowers in the plant world, orchids have a mystique about them that is intoxicating.
Orchids are still a hot commodity today and after all the time that has been spent searching the countries of the world, new species are still being found. The mystique of orchids is still there and bringing your very first orchid into bloom on your own is still thrilling. Even though you can buy mass-produced orchids at the grocery or garden supply, they are still at the pinnacle of floral perfection for most people. For people who are not adept at growing plants, orchids still represent a level of devotion to plants that most people will never attain. So orchids still represent status above the ordinary, but I think also a link to a world which is rapidly shrinking. As more and more of the wild places that orchids grow are being cleared for cattle and other food-based industries, the less chance there is of finding that unique and rare orchid not yet known to science. The search goes on and the romance and beauty of orchids still stuns us as we look into the face of unique plant expression.
