Orchid Flower: Structure and Care


An orchid flower owns the primary characters that distinguish orchids as a distinctive group of flowering plants. Like most other flowers, orchid flower consists of a pedicel, sepals, petals, and reproductive organs (stamens and carpals). However, some essential differences are peculiar to flowers of orchid plants.

Structure of Orchid Flower

Like most other flowers, orchid flower is supported at the base by a pedicel. However, the ovary of an orchid flower, with its ovules, seems to be an integral part of the pedicel because it is embedded within the upper portion of the pedicel below the attachment of petals. Thus, the orchid flower bears an inferior ovary. The sepals and petals are quite distinct, often highly colored, and in sets of three.

One petal is developed as a landing platform for the pollinator (insects) and is called the lip (or labellum). The sexual organs (stamens and carpals) are quite different from other non-orchid flowers. The filaments, anthers, style, and stigma are reduced in number and are usually fused into a single structure called the column. In one relatively small group (the ladys slippers) two anthers are present, one on each side of the column.

The majority of anthers, however, have only a single anther at the apex of the column. The ovary is composed of three carpals. Ovules are arranged along the ridges inside the ovary and do not develop until some time after pollination takes place. Hence the long delay between pollination and the opening of a ripened pod.

A characteristic feature of the orchid flower is that the fertile stamen or stamens are all on one side of the flower opposite the lip. This makes the flower bilaterally symmetrical. Several types of nectaries (nectar-secreting bodies) are present in the flower, including extra floral types that secrete nectar on the outside of the buds or inflorescence while the flower is developing.

Caring for Orchid Flower

To give your orchid the brilliant bloom it is worth, the following few steps would prove helpful for a beginner in growing orchid

* All orchids need a fair time of shading, say 60 %, in most cases. Too much lighting should be avoided to prevent permanent damage to the plant tissues-the sunburn.
* Too much watering should be avoided since it causes the roots to rot, ultimately affecting the flowers. Flowers should never be directly wetted with water.
* Prevent the orchid from experiencing any kind of shock (sunburn, chilling etc.) as orchid flowers are very sensitive to shock and will not recover quickly, if at all.
* Proper ventilation or air currents must be provided to help the plant benefit from the moisture in the surrounding.
* Keep the medium moist, not wet, and remove the entire decomposed medium before repotting the plant.
* Get knowledge of the temperature variations required for healthy growth and blooming of different orchid plants.

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"Examples include the Hawaii Orchid Growers Association, the Delaware Orchid Society, the Florida West Coast Orchid Society and the Kentucky Orchid Society."

Red Orchid A Rare And Extremely Exquisite Flower

"Sufficient light is important for healthy growth and production of all flowers, especially for one such as the White Dendrobium orchid."

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"Orchids bearing pseudobulbs belong to the sympodial group (known for the famous Cattleya, Laelia, and Coelogyne)."

Orchids The White Dendrobium Orchid

"Many of these live as epiphytes in tropical woodlands."

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"The repotted plant is not to be watered for at least three weeks; instead, wetting the medium, leaves, and the bulb of the repotted plant with a hand-spray is more advisable."