BARBARA KLEIN: Signs and overhanging banners help tell the stories of the plants on exhibit. Some of the orchids look like insects – butterflies, bees or spiders. Others look like stars, cups or lighted fireworks.
A colorful figure of a dragon with big teeth attracts attention to information about orchids in Sri Lanka. Orchids play an important part in special events in that country and on that country’s money. One banner shows the flowers on Sri Lanka’s one-hundred rupee note. Another banner shows delicate orchids on a five-dollar note from Singapore.
Kim VarziOrchids on display at the U.S. Botanical Garden
STEVE EMBER: Many visitors to the exhibit say they recognize some common orchid plants. The Cattleya, for example, gets a lot of attention.
The flower is sometimes called the corsage orchid. People wear the cut flower on clothing to celebrate special events like birthdays or Mother’s Day. There are many species of Cattleya. Most come from the treetops in wet tropical forests in Central and South America. They need warm temperatures to grow well.
BARBARA KLEIN: The Cattleya probably owes its existence to William Cattley, a British botanist. In eighteen eighteen, Cattley saved the orchid plant from being thrown away. At the time, the plant was used as packing material that protected other orchid plants arriving from Brazil. Cattley succeeded in getting the unknown plant to flower. Later another botanist named it the Cattleya in his honor.
最新
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25