Blog of orchid growing activity

Darwin's Birthday

12/2/2018

The 12th February is a very important date, for one very good reason. 209 years ago Charles Darwin was born. Besides all of the work he carried out on evolution, distilling observations and making connections in a scientific manner, he did many other things as well. He wrote on the distribution of coral reefs (1842), geology (1844 and later), barnacles (1851), climbing plants (1865), expression of emotions (1872), insectivorous plants (1875) and many other subjects, including in 1862 methods of orchid pollination.
It is this one that is of particular interest because young Darwin, born and brought up in Shrewsbury would have been familiar with the Butterfly Orchid that still grows in Shropshire and the night flying moth that sips the nectar and pollinates the flower. This lovely white native orchid is just like Angraecum sesquipedale of Madagascar, only in miniature. It was unknown for many years what animal was responsible for pollination of this flower as it has a very long spur on the flower at the bottom of which is the nectar treat. Darwin guessed that the pollinator was a hawk moth with a very long tongue and so it turned out to be. When the pollinator was finally found it turned out to be a hawk moth, Xanthopan morganii, with a tongue about 30cm long.
So raise a glass to Charles Darwin a very versatile biologist and a clear thinker who knew how to interpret what he saw from what he had seen.

Greater Butterfly Orchid

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The rare and the possible

8/2/2018

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I was quite surprised to receive a request the other day for Ghost Orchids, Epipogium aphyllum. This was an odd request because this is a Wildlife and Countryside Act Schedule 8 species, which in broad terms mean it is a completely protected species, from the seeds on wards it must be left alone. This particular species also comes with what as a professional grower I would describe as a 'don't even try' label. Ghost Orchids are one of the species which has no chlorophyll, so it remains totally dependent upon its symbiotic fungus throughout its life. Being independent of light to live, it does not need leaves, so it does not need to pop up above ground except to flower and seed, a process which may not happen very often, the plant growing underground. While we might think this is a bit odd, it has animal parallels. With the Ghost Orchid we can start to think of the plant above ground, the flower, as the least ecologically important part of the life cycle. The animal similarity can be found in many different groups, for example the mayflies. We all know the reputation of the short life span of the adult, but some species, such as Ephemera, can have a larval stage which lasts two or three years. The larva has a great significance in the ecology of the water it lives in, the adult really only being there to perpetuate the important larval stage. This hidden importance is quite common, but we tend to only be aware of the 'above ground' plants and animals, which is in many ways a shame since if we have a wider horizon we can improve our gardening and the plants we grow. Think in terms of you soil being a living thing, it is not just worms that are in there it is also all the fungi and bacteria, which is what helps hold the soil together and gives it a structure. When you are next in the garden, when the weather permits, think about all the life below ground and how some of our orchids, like the Ghost Orchid and Bird's-nest Orchid, Neottia nidus-avis, are underground, enriching the environment, even if you cannot see them.

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Darwin's Birthday

The rare and the possible

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