Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae, a diverse and widespread group of

flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant.

Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering plants. The
Orchidaceae have about 28,000 currently accepted species, distributed in about 763 genera.
The determination of which family is larger is still under debate, because verified data on the
members of such enormous families are continually in flux. Regardless, the number of orchid
species is nearly equal to the number of bony fishes, more than twice the number of bird
species, and about four times the number of mammal species.

The family encompasses about 6–11% of all species of seed plants. The largest genera are
Bulbophyllum (2,000 species), Epidendrum (1,500 species), Dendrobium (1,400 species) and
Pleurothallis (1,000 species). It also includes Vanilla (the genus of the vanilla plant), the type
genus Orchis, and many commonly cultivated plants such as Phalaenopsis and Cattleya.
Moreover, since the introduction of tropical species into cultivation in the 19th century,
horticulturists have produced more than 100,000 hybrids and cultivars.

Description:

A Phalaenopsis flower

Orchids are easily distinguished from other plants, as they share some very evident derived
characteristics or synapomorphies. Among these are: bilateral symmetry of the flower
(zygomorphism), many resupinate flowers, a nearly always highly modified petal (labellum),
fused stamens and carpels, and extremely small seeds.

Stem and roots

Germinating seeds of the temperate orchid Anacamptis coriophora. All orchids are perennial
herbs that lack any permanent woody structure. They can grow according to two patterns:

Monopodial: The stem grows from a single bud, leaves are added from the apex each year, and
the stem grows longer accordingly. The stem of orchids with a monopodial growth can reach
several metres in length, as in Vanda and Vanilla.

Sympodial: Sympodial orchids have a front (the newest growth) and a back (the oldest
growth). The plant produces a series of adjacent shoots, which grow to a certain size, bloom
and then stop growing and are replaced. Sympodial orchids grow horizontally, rather than
vertically, following the surface of their support. The growth continues by development of new
leads, with their own leaves and roots, sprouting from or next to those of the previous year, as
in Cattleya. While a new lead is developing, the rhizome may start its growth again from a so-
called 'eye', an undeveloped bud, thereby branching. Sympodial orchids may have visible
pseudobulbs joined by a rhizome, which creeps along the top or just beneath the soil.

Neotinea lactea, collected in Sardinia; the small size, compared to a one-Euro coin, and the
two globose tuberoids typical of the Neotinea genus are highlighted

Terrestrial orchids may be rhizomatous or form corms or tubers. The root caps of terrestrial
orchids are smooth and white.
Some sympodial terrestrial orchids, such as Orchis and Ophrys, have two subterranean
tuberous roots. One is used as a food reserve for wintry periods, and provides for the
development of the other one, from which visible growth develops.

In warm and constantly humid climates, many terrestrial orchids do not need pseudobulbs.

Epiphytic orchids, those that grow upon a support, have modified aerial roots that can
sometimes be a few meters long. In the older parts of the roots, a modified spongy epidermis,
called a velamen, has the function of absorbing humidity. It is made of dead cells and can have
a silvery-grey, white or brown appearance. In some orchids, the velamen includes spongy and
fibrous bodies near the passage cells, called tilosomes.

The cells of the root epidermis grow at a right angle to the axis of the root to allow them to get
a firm grasp on their support. Nutrients for epiphytic orchids mainly come from mineral dust,
organic detritus, animal droppings and other substances collecting among on their supporting
surfaces.

Pseudobulb of Prosthechea fragrans

The base of the stem of sympodial epiphytes, or in some species essentially the entire stem,
may be thickened to form a pseudobulb that contains nutrients and water for drier periods.

The pseudobulb has a smooth surface with lengthwise grooves, and can have different shapes,
often conical or oblong. Its size is very variable; in some small species of Bulbophyllum, it is no
longer than two millimeters, while in the largest orchid in the world, Grammatophyllum
speciosum (giant orchid), it can reach three meters. Some Dendrobium species have long,
canelike pseudobulbs with short, rounded leaves over the whole length; some other orchids
have hidden or extremely small pseudobulbs, completely included inside the leaves.

With ageing the pseudobulb sheds its leaves and becomes dormant. At this stage it is often
called a backbulb. Backbulbs still hold nutrition for the plant, but then a pseudobulb usually
takes over, exploiting the last reserves accumulated in the backbulb, which eventually dies off,
too. A pseudobulb typically lives for about five years. Orchids without noticeable pseudobulbs
are also said to have growths, an individual component of a sympodial plant.

Leaves:

Like most monocots, orchids generally have simple leaves with parallel veins, although some
Vanilloideae have reticulate venation. Leaves may be ovate, lanceolate, or orbiculate, and very
variable in size on the individual plant. Their characteristics are often diagnostic. They are
normally alternate on the stem, often folded lengthwise along the centre ("plicate"), and have
no stipules. Orchid leaves often have siliceous bodies called stegmata in the vascular bundle
sheaths (not present in the Orchidoideae) and are fibrous.

The structure of the leaves corresponds to the specific habitat of the plant. Species that
typically bask in sunlight, or grow on sites which can be occasionally very dry, have thick,
leathery leaves and the laminae are covered by a waxy cuticle to retain their necessary water
supply. Shade-loving species, on the other hand, have long, thin leaves.
The leaves of most orchids are perennial, that is, they live for several years, while others,
especially those with plicate leaves as in Catasetum, shed them annually and develop new
leaves together with new pseudobulbs.

The leaves of some orchids are considered ornamental. The leaves of Macodes sanderiana, a
semiterrestrial or rock-hugging ("lithophyte") orchid, show a sparkling silver and gold veining
on a light green background. The cordate leaves of Psychopsis limminghei are light brownish-
green with maroon-puce markings, created by flower pigments. The attractive mottle of the
leaves of lady's slippers from tropical and subtropical Asia (Paphiopedilum), is caused by
uneven distribution of chlorophyll. Also, Phalaenopsis schilleriana is a pastel pink orchid with
leaves spotted dark green and light green. The jewel orchid (Ludisia discolor) is grown more for
its colourful leaves than its white flowers.

Some orchids, such as Dendrophylax lindenii (ghost orchid), Aphyllorchis and Taeniophyllum
depend on their green roots for photosynthesis and lack normally developed leaves, as do all
of the heterotrophic species.

Orchids of the genus Corallorhiza (coralroot orchids) lack leaves altogether and instead wrap
their roots around the roots of mature trees and use specialized fungi to harvest sugars.

Flowers

Orchid flowers have three sepals, three petals and a three-chambered ovary. The three sepals
and two of the petals are often similar to each other but one petal is usually highly modified,
forming a "lip" or labellum. In most orchid genera, as the flower develops, it undergoes a
twisting through 180°, called resupination, so that the labellum lies below the column. The
labellum functions to attract insects, and in resupinate flowers, also acts as a landing stage, or
sometimes a trap.

Labelled image of Caladenia alpina

Labelled image of Diuris carinata

The reproductive parts of an orchid flower are unique in that the stamens and style are joined
to form a single structure, the column. Instead of being released singly, thousands of pollen
grains are contained in one or two bundles called pollinia that are attached to a sticky disc
near the top of the column. Just below the pollinia is a second, larger sticky plate called the
stigma.

Reproduction

Pollination

Main article: Pollination of orchids

The complex mechanisms that orchids have evolved to achieve cross-pollination were
investigated by Charles Darwin and described in Fertilisation of Orchids (1862). Orchids have
developed highly specialized pollination systems, thus the chances of being pollinated are
often scarce, so orchid flowers usually remain receptive for very long periods, rendering
unpollinated flowers long-lasting in cultivation. Most orchids deliver pollen in a single mass.
Each time pollination succeeds, thousands of ovules can be fertilized.

Pollinators are often visually attracted by the shape and colours of the labellum. However,
some Bulbophyllum species attract male fruit flies (Bactrocera and Zeugodacus spp.) solely via
a floral chemical which simultaneously acts as a floral reward (e.g. methyl eugenol, raspberry
ketone, or zingerone) to perform pollination. The flowers may produce attractive odours.
Although absent in most species, nectar may be produced in a spur of the labellum (8 in the
illustration above), or on the point of the sepals, or in the septa of the ovary, the most typical
position amongst the Asparagales.

Phalaenopsis pollinia (orange) attached to a toothpick with its sticky viscidium

In orchids that produce pollinia, pollination happens as some variant of the following
sequence: when the pollinator enters the flower, it touches a viscidium, which promptly sticks
to its body, generally on the head or abdomen. While leaving the flower, it pulls the pollinium
out of the anther, as it is connected to the viscidium by the caudicle or stipe. The caudicle then
bends and the pollinium is moved forwards and downwards. When the pollinator enters
another flower of the same species, the pollinium has taken such position that it will stick to
the stigma of the second flower, just below the rostellum, pollinating it. In horticulture,
artificial orchid pollination is achieved by removing the pollinia with a small instrument such as
a toothpick from the pollen parent and transferring them to the seed parent.

Ophrys apifera is about to self-pollinate

Some orchids mainly or totally rely on self-pollination, especially in colder regions where
pollinators are particularly rare. The caudicles may dry up if the flower has not been visited by
any pollinator, and the pollinia then fall directly on the stigma. Otherwise, the anther may
rotate and then enter the stigma cavity of the flower (as in Holcoglossum amesianum).

The slipper orchid Paphiopedilum parishii reproduces by self-fertilization. This occurs when the
anther changes from a solid to a liquid state and directly contacts the stigma surface without
the aid of any pollinating agent or floral assembly.

The labellum of the Cypripedioideae is poke bonnet-shaped, and has the function of trapping
visiting insects. The only exit leads to the anthers that deposit pollen on the visitor.

In some extremely specialized orchids, such as the Eurasian genus Ophrys, the labellum is
adapted to have a colour, shape, and odour which attracts male insects via mimicry of a
receptive female. Pollination happens as the insect attempts to mate with flowers.

Many neotropical orchids are pollinated by male orchid bees, which visit the flowers to gather
volatile chemicals they require to synthesize pheromonal attractants. Males of such species as
Euglossa imperialis or Eulaema meriana have been observed to leave their territories
periodically to forage for aromatic compounds, such as cineole, to synthesize pheromone for
attracting and mating with females. Each type of orchid places the pollinia on a different body
part of a different species of bee, so as to enforce proper cross-pollination.

A rare achlorophyllous saprophytic orchid growing entirely underground in Australia,

Catasetum, a genus discussed briefly by Darwin, actually launches its viscid pollinia with
explosive force when an insect touches a seta, knocking the pollinator off the flower.

After pollination, the sepals and petals fade and wilt, but they usually remain attached to the
ovary.
In 2011, Bulbophyllum nocturnum was discovered to flower nocturnally.

Asexual reproduction

Some species, such as in the genera Phalaenopsis, Dendrobium, and Vanda, produce offshoots
or plantlets formed from one of the nodes along the stem, through the accumulation of
growth hormones at that point. These shoots are known as keiki.

Fruits and seeds

Cross-sections of orchid capsules showing the longitudinal slits

The ovary typically develops into a capsule that is dehiscent by three or six longitudinal slits,
while remaining closed at both ends.

The seeds are generally almost microscopic and very numerous, in some species over a million
per capsule. After ripening, they blow off like dust particles or spores. Most orchid species lack
endosperm in their seed and must enter symbiotic relationships with various mycorrhizal
basidiomyceteous fungi that provide them the necessary nutrients to germinate, so almost all
orchid species are mycoheterotrophic during germination and reliant upon fungi to complete
their lifecycles. Only a handful of orchid species have seed that can germinate without
mycorrhiza, namely the species within the genus Disa with hydrochorous seeds.

Disa uniflora seedling on a sphagnum leaf, on a thumbtack

As the chance for a seed to meet a suitable fungus is very small, only a minute fraction of all
the seeds released grow into adult plants. In cultivation, germination typically takes weeks.

Horticultural techniques have been devised for germinating orchid seeds on an artificial
nutrient medium, eliminating the requirement of the fungus for germination and greatly aiding
the propagation of ornamental orchids. The usual medium for the sowing of orchids in artificial
conditions is agar gel combined with a carbohydrate energy source. The carbohydrate source
can be combinations of discrete sugars or can be derived from other sources such as banana,
pineapple, peach, or even tomato puree or coconut water. After the preparation of the agar
medium, it is poured into test tubes or jars which are then autoclaved (or cooked in a pressure
cooker) to sterilize the medium. After cooking, the medium begins to gel as it cools.