Content:
Unique orchids are considered as a symbol of the tropics for good reason, because they are as colorful and diverse as the whole nature of the equatorial regionsanetas. The photos of orchids, the names and types are fascinating, and among flower growers of all countries they cause an overwhelming desire to get these amazingly bright flowers in their collection.
The family combines completely different genera and species. Sometimes it is difficult to assume that a herbaceous plant several centimeters high and inconspicuous flowers is a relative of a multimeter liana with lush flowers and a powerful woody trunk.
Most orchids are epiphytes that have adapted to life on large representatives of the flora.
There are species among orchids, as in the photo, preferring to settle on stony soil. But land plants in this large family are rare, and many of them live in temperate regions, including Russia.
Indoor varieties of orchids, their photos and names always amaze with a riot of colors and incredible decorative flowering. And this is not by chance. Having come to the attention of botanists and breeding specialists, the orchid discovered an interesting feature. It turned out that the plants belonging to different genera and species perfectly intersect, giving unique hybrids of beauty and originality. They then became the founders of modern collections.
Therefore, acquiring a flower in a pot makes it almost impossible to determine its affiliation to a particular genus. Hybrid ancestors are indicated in the name of the orchid species, and the photo can only remotely resemble wild ancestors.
Phalaenopsis Orchid: photo and description of
The phalaenopsis orchid depicted in the photo can be found most often as a room culture. In nature, this genus of orchid plants is found in southeastern Asia and in Australia, where it grows in moist forests on trees and on rocky ledges. Wild species can reach a height of two meters, but the size of indoor plants is more modest.
For two hundred years of dating a man with this “moth-like”, as the Latin name of the genus is translated, the mass of varieties and hybrid forms of phalaenopsis is derived from the flower. Standard potted plants, together with powerful peduncles bearing up to 40 corolla, can grow up to a meter in height, and dwarf plants do not exceed 20–30 cm in height.plants or grown in botanical gardens and greenhouses.
With a huge number of differences among the orchids in the genus phalaenopsis, as in the photo, there are many common features. Plants are easily recognizable by their thick, airy rhizomes, covered in a wax layer and providing orchids with both moisture and nutrients. Dense leathery leaves are oblong-oval in shape and located opposite in the socket.
An adult orchid has from 6 to 10 leaves, and besides plants with dark green foliage, one can find varieties not only with exactly colored, but also with variegated foliage. The range of phalaenopsis colors will be envied by the palette of any artist. Today, flower growers are offered a choice of all shades of pink and lilac, purple and white, yellowish and even green. There are two-colored forms, plants whose corollas are decorated with contrasting veins and specks.
But if you want to buy a blue or blue phalaenopsis, you should refrain from buying. This is perhaps the only shade in which the flowers are not painted naturally. All the specimens offered by the merchants are actually painted in a special way, and the next time an unusual flower will reveal not blue, but white corollas.
Dendrobium Orchid: photos and descriptions of the flower
Dendrobium, or living on a tree, is another type of orchid, the photo and name of which is well known to all fans of this tropical culture. In nature, luxurious ornamental plants are found in many regions of Oceania, Australia, and Southeast Asia.
Dendrobium is one of the most numerous genera of orchids. Today, botanists openly and described more than 1000 species, and the first acquaintance with plants took place at the turn of the XIX century. It is not surprising that in the photo of the dendrobium orchid are so different not only in coloring, but also in the shape of corolla and lush racemes.
The brightest and most well-known representative of the genus is the dendrobium nobile orchid represented in the photo, beloved by growers for its incredibly beautiful flowering and rather unpretentious temper.
But other types of orchids, in the photo, in the name of which there is this generic name, stand out for their incredible attractiveness, and sometimes for the uniqueness of their appearance.
The long-lanceolate leaves of epiphytic plants are not as dense as those of phalaenopsis. Dense roots covered with a waxy coating. Powerful scaly shoots in some species can reach five meters and, depending on the length, be upright or hanging down.
Orchid ludiziya
This relatively small plant is one of the most unusual among indoor orchids. If a photo of orchid species usually amazes with an incredible number of shades and fancy corollas, then the main advantage here is not flowers, but decorative foliage.
Pointy-ovate foliage of the orchid of ludisia stands out with a velvety surface, covered with a fancy pattern of light green, pinkish or yellow, depending on the plant variety, veinlets. Orchid is not great. The rosette in height hardly reaches 15-17 cm.
Orchid blooms are not too decorative. Crusiform inflorescences with small fragrant flowers of white and yellow color, unlike other related cultures, preferring to bloom in spring and summer, appear in winter.
Orchid Cymbidium: photos and features of the flower
Orchids familiar to flower growers by photo and names can be grown in a pot culture, can have different sizes and structure. Cymbidium is one of the most interesting representatives of orchids in home collections. In nature, plants easily reach two meters in height. But not so tall varieties are used as domestic green pets.
With growth from 50 to 100 cm, the Cymbidium orchid, as in the photo, reveals extremely bright and large flowers. The corolla of this plant can reach 13 centimeters in diameter, and the colors of powerful racemes simply cannot be counted! The uniqueness of this kind is a long-term, up to six months flowering, as well as the aroma of some species.
Orchid miltonia
The South American genus of orchids has a huge number of species, most of which are grassy sympodial plants with large fragrant flowers.
The miltonia orchid is characterized by the epiphytic lifestyle, which determines its appearance. The culture has pointed lanceolate leaves and small juicy pseudobulbs. Flowers in structure resemble the rims of a garden viola, but in shape and color they are much more strange and richer.
Among the species of orchids with this name, as in the photo, dozens of hybrid plants. Moreover, miltonia easily crossed even in natural conditions, giving natural hybrids.
Today, targeted selection is also being carried out to produce unusual interspecific forms, which, according to florist, there are already more than a dozen.
Orchid Miltonia is valued by growers not only for the brightness of flowering, but also for its frequency. Plants of this genus can bloom several times a year, the main thing is that between the appearance of sparse racemes the flower has time to rest and give new shoots.
Cambria Orchid: photos and bright features of the plant
One of the interspecific hybrids obtained from the miltonia orchid is the cambria. The plant has elongated linear leaves, juicy pseudobulbs and thickened powerful shoots. The main advantage of the Cambrian orchid pictured is the spectacular star-shaped flowers with a contrasting pattern on the lower petal.
Plants unpretentiously and perfectly tolerates growing at home.
Dracula Orchid
For the title of the most unusual orchid, plants of the Dracula genus can claim, uniting more than a hundred independent species, from the tropical forests of the American continent. Popular these plants began to use quite recently, when they drew the attention of Asian breeders.
Most of the orchid species in the photo called Dracula are sympodial epiphytes. Plants lodge on the branches and trunks of trees, and the rims of unusual shape hang down on long flexible peduncles.
On each flower stalk, depending on the species, there may be one or several buds that unfold one after the other.
Generic feature - the structure of the flower, consisting of three large intergrown petals and a central concave lip. The ends of the petals are elongated and sometimes look like filamentous processes hanging from a flower. The crown is located between the small petals in the center of the corolla.
The most famous flower of this genus is the species Dracula simia, whose flower resembles a monkey's face. But among these plants there are more bizarre ones. As an example, a practically black orchid can be a dracula of the vampire species, named for the truly sinister look of flowers.
Orchid of Cattleya
Orchids belonging to the genus of Cattleya are considered to be one of the most beautiful flowers of the entire vast family. And in Brazil, these plants are recognized as a symbol of the country. And this is not surprising. The genus includes a great variety of species adapted to growth in the wet jungle and in arid areas under the southern sun. At the same time, Cattleya orchid flowers amaze with the richness of colors and wonderful aroma.
Flower growers are offered spectacular cattleya hybrid plants, and you can find both species that bloom in spring and plants that open corollas closer to autumn.
Vanda Orchid: photos and descriptions of the flower
There are 53 plant species in the Vanda genus that grow in nature in tropical regions of Asia and Australia. Among florists, orchids vanda, as in the photo, are considered a real jewel. And this judgment has good reasons.
Both species and hybrid plants strike with surprisingly delicate bright flowers on long racemes. An adult specimen sometimes forms not one, but several flower stalks, which turns the bush into a spectacular bouquet with flowers, butterflies. The corollas can have a uniform and variegated color in the widest range. The orchid vanda has beautiful erect or dodging shoots with succulent opposite leaves and powerful roots up to two meters long. This look can not fail to attract attention. And it is not surprising that on the video, the orchids of this kind fascinate and make the heart of both beginning flower growers and connoisseurs of tropical cultures make us thrill.
