A blooming orchid can decorate any home. It adds color to the interior, creates a feeling of freshness and comfort. But everyone knows that the orchid was not always an indoor flower, in nature there are many types of this beauty. Where do orchids grow in the wild? Which country should you go to to enjoy the natural beauty of the plant? These questions are worth looking for detailed answers.
What are these plants
Our beloved orchids are among the oldest plants. Their existence was confirmed as early as the Late Cretaceous epoch. According to the scientific classification, the Orchid family belongs to the Tsvetkovy department, the class of Monocots, the order of Asparagus plants. Latin name - Orchidáceae.
In total, more than 35 thousand names of orchids are known. In fact, these plants make up a seventh of all the flowers of the Earth. But at the same time, they are surprisingly different in shape, color, and size. So who is she, the beautiful orchid? Where does it grow (countries, continents)? What conditions does it require? How long have people known about her?
First mentions
In Verona, at the excavations of Monte Bolsa, the most ancient orchid fragments were found. And the name of the flower came upGreek philosopher Theophrastus, who lived in the 6th-5th centuries BC. The philosopher included a beautiful plant in a systematic treatise on pharmaceutical botany, which was called De Historia Plantarum. It seemed to the ancient scientist that 2 tubercles at the base of the roots looked like human testicles, so he called the plant "orchid" (in ancient Greek it means "testicle"). In scientific circles, this name is still used today, plants are called Orchids, or Orchids.
The scientist Dioscrides, who lived in the first century AD, mentions orchids in his writings. He claims that the plant was known to the Aztecs (Mexico), and they used one of them, in particular vanilla, to create flavored drinks.
But the first treatise on growing orchids was written in China in the eleventh century. There was not much information about where orchids grow, the emphasis was on how to decorate your house with a flowering plant and protect yourself from evil spirits.
Division into groups
Because the family of these plants is huge, it was further divided into groups:
- a group of epiphytic orchids that live in trees;
- a group of saprophytic plants living underground;
- group of ground orchids.
And now, knowing that orchids in nature can grow in different conditions, we can talk about their distribution.
Spreading orchids
Orchid plants are found on all continents. Only Antarctica was unlucky, but it’s generally tight with plants there. Most representatives can be found in tropical latitudes. This is due to the most favorable environment for growth. The tropics have the largest number of epiphytic orchid species.
Terrestrial herbaceous perennials are most common in temperate latitudes. They can be rhizomatous and tuberous. However, there are much fewer orchids than in the tropics. If we consider the Northern Hemisphere, then in temperate latitudes, where terrestrial orchids grow, no more than 75 genera can be found. This is approximately 10%. And in the temperate latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere, only 40 genera are represented.
In the post-Soviet space, you can find up to 49 genera of Orchids.
Scientists have made a conditional division of orchids into climatic provinces:
- The first includes Central America, South America, the coasts of Africa and other zones located on the same parallel. It is warm and humid here, just what epiphytic orchids love. Representatives of all groups meet in the first zone.
- The second zone includes mountainous regions, that is, the Andes, the mountains of Brazil, New Guinea, Malaysia, Indonesia. The temperature here is slightly lower, but the humidity is high. In the second zone, almost all representatives of Orchids can exist.
- The third zone includes plateaus and steppe. For orchids, the conditions here are unfavorable, but they are present even in difficult conditions. There are a small number of epiphytic and terrestrial species.
- The fourth climatic zone is characterized by a temperate climate. Few orchids. Terrestrial species only.
Epiphytic orchids
Epiphytic orchids do not need land to grow and nourish. Trees and rocks, where orchids grow, give them only support. The roots are in the air, from which they receive both moisture and nutrition. But many thought that orchids parasitize on trees. Most epiphytic species have tuber-like thickenings. These are false bulbs (pseudobulbs) in which nutrients and moisture accumulate.
A subspecies of epiphytic orchid plants growing on rocks is called lithophytes. On stones, those species usually grow that do not have enough light in the surrounding forests. Naturally, lithophytic orchids in nature also have aerial roots.
Saprophytic orchids
This is a rather large group of plants, consisting of a simple shoot without leaves, but with scales. The end of the shoot is a bunch of flowers (in indoor plants, this is usually a single flower).
Saprophytic underground plant has no chlorophyll. Organic substances get to it from a humus substrate. The underground rhizome usually resembles coral. Its feature is the inability to produce new roots. Rhizomes actively absorb water with the entire surface in which nutrients are dissolved. Organic substances for the growth and nutrition of saprophytic orchids are produced by mycotic fungus.
Ground orchids
The terrestrial orchid group combined plants that have ordinary green leaves, underground bulbs or roots and root cones. These types are widelycommon in the United States and Europe. Here their height is about 50 cm. But in the tropics, where wild orchids grow, terrestrial species can be much higher. Very often they look like a flowering sprawling bush.
Terrestrial orchids have a normal underground root system or root cones. After wintering, new shoots grow from young cones.
Familiar stranger - phalaenopsis
Such plants are very often sold in flower shops around the world. The phalaenopsis orchid is very popular with flower growers. Where this species grows in natural conditions, not everyone knows. But there is more than enough information about home care for the beauty. Let's fill in the gaps in knowledge and deal with wild phalaenopsis.
The species is distributed in Southeast Asia and China. Found in the Himalayas, Indochina, the Malay Archipelago, the Philippines. Covers Taiwan, New Guinea and Australia. Phalaenopsis is found in Sumatra and the Andaman Islands. The species prefers monsoon forests, as well as montane and tropical forests. Phalaenopsis belong to the epiphytic group.
Dendrobium nobile - noble orchid
What does the noble orchid dendrobium nobile look like? Where do these flowers grow in nature? Most often they can be found in the Himalayas, southern China, northern India, Vietnam and Indonesia. The distribution area includes the southern part of Eurasia. Plants belong to the epiphytic and lithophytic groups,but individual varieties are terrestrial. The appearance of dendrobiums is very attractive. Shoots grow from pseudobulbs, and each can produce 10-20 flowers. The plant has a pleasant delicate fragrance.
Cattleya - fragrant American
Beautiful Cattleya came to Europe quite by accident. Its leaves have been used as packaging material for shipping tropical lichens. The parcel with the plants was sent to William Cattleya, who forgot to throw out the "packaging". And then a miracle happened - beautiful flowers appeared on a pile of green garbage! Since then, an exotic species of orchids has been studied. To date, more than 60 subspecies of orchids of this genus are known.
Different species of Cattleya require different climatic conditions. Central and South America, where orchids of this type grow, has territories with different percentages of humidity and temperature conditions. Some species live in the Amazon basin, where humidity can reach up to 100%. Some require drier, sunnier locations. And several species of Cattleya grow in the mountains of Brazil, where the winter temperature is about 5 ° C. The Cattleya genus also consists of epiphytic and lithophytic plants.
Despite the huge number of species, orchid plants in the wild need protection. This is especially true of Eurasian orchids. For example, there are almost 130 species of terrestrial orchids in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, all of which are endangered.
