IN THE GARDEN
ORCHID OBSESSIONS This month, Sally Petitt turns her attention to the orchid family – bewitching in both breadth and beauty Images HOWARD RICE D id you know the orchid family is actually the largest plant family in the world? There are estimated to be 410 flowering
to be an orchid to suit most conditions, as well as horticultural experience. Noteworthy natives The UK has 56 native orchid species, all of which are terrestrial and summer flowering. Some of these are widespread, such as the common spotted orchid ( Dactylorhiza fuchsii ), which grows in woodland, verges, marshes and dunes and can occur in great drifts of pink and white in moist, well- drained, alkaline and acidic soils. Other species are rarer, including the ghost orchid ( Epipogium aphyllum ), which occurs in dense pine and deciduous woodland on alkaline and slightly acidic
nutrients and moisture from the air and debris around it. Some epiphytic orchids have swellings at the base of the stems (pseudobulbs) which store water. On the other hand, terrestrial orchids grow on the ground and their roots absorb nutrients and moisture from the soil. The flowers of orchids are all similar in being twisted 180° – so most orchid flowers are blooming upside down! Many have two lateral petals and one modified petal, or lip, that attracts pollinators and acts as a landing pad for them. The diversity of flower shape, colour and size is vast and, given the range of habitats in which they occur, there’s bound
plant families worldwide, containing more than 350,000 species, but the orchid family – with more than 760 genera and 28,000 species – is one of the most species-rich (rivalled only by the daisy family). Orchids are cosmopolitan in their distribution, with species growing in cloud, tropical and temperate forests, grasslands, bogs, semi-arid and arid regions. They are either epiphytic or terrestrial in habit. Epiphytic species grow on a host plant, and their aerial roots will absorb
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