Orchid Blogs

Confucius’ thoughts on Orchids

Confucius was an admirer of orchids and in this quote he captures the quality of the epiphytes in this eloquent translation*:

The orchid grows where others cannot enduring the hardships of hunger and thirst, and is loosely tied to the things that support it.  And, even with all the difficulty of its life, the orchid graces the world with beautiful colour and rare fragrance.  This is like the life of the true gentleman, who sets himself to learn self-discipline, and whose character shines no matter where he is or what he experiences.

Though he never saw an Australian epiphytic orchid, the description holds true as can be seen in these three pictures from among the many species found on the eastern seaboard.

Sarcochilus falcatus
Sarcochilus falcatus (Orange Blossom Orchid)
Dendrobium speciosum
Dendrobium speciosum (Sydney Rock Orchid)
Dockrilla linguiformis
Dockrilla linguiformis (Tongue Orchid)

 

 

 

 

 

 

*From The Fragrance of the Unread Poem by Jonathon Steffan http://www.jonathansteffen.com/the-fragrance-of-the-unread-poem/ Accessed 10:04pm 30th June 2014

 

Australian Orchids and the Doctors they Commemorate Part 4 of 20

Continuing Professor John Pearn’s article

Part 4

The first orchids scientifically named in the Pacific were species in the genus Thelymitra J.R.Forst. & G.Forst., a taxon raised and coined by the Forsters — the irascible Johann Reinhold Forster (1729–1798), and his son Georg Forster (1754–1794), who was 18 years old when they left on Cook’s second voyage of 1772 to 1775. The Forsters collected Thelymitra longifolia in the South Island of New Zealand in 1772 and published the name of the species in 1776. The Forsters described and named nine new species in what they termed the “Class of Orches” in the South Pacific. Georg Forster graduated in medicine in Vilna (now Vilnius, Lithuania) in 1784. Species of Thelymitra, which are known as the Sun Orchids, are found mainly in the south-west of Western Australia.

It should be noted that Thelymitra are found both in the east, central and the west of southern Australia.

Australian Orchids and the Doctors they Commemorate Part 3 of 20

To learn a little more about some of the orchids Professor John Pearn has mentioned, click on the links

Part 3

Early orchidology in the Asia–Pacific region

The fleshy pseudobulbs (thickened stems that serve as storage organs) of orchids have been eaten and used medicinally by Indigenous Australians for thousands of years. The first Australian orchids brought to the attention of Western science were three species of Dendrobium (D. discolor Lindley [described by John Lindley]; D. canaliculatum R.Br. [described by Robert Brown]; and D. rigidum R.Br. [described by Robert Brown]) that were collected by Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander at the Endeavour River between 17 June and 3 August 1770. Solander had trained in medicine and botany under Linnaeus in Uppsala (Sweden) and, after 1759, in London (England). One of the plant species named after him is the Australian orchid Orthoceras solandri (also known as Orthoceras strictum).

May 2014 Winning Photo

05 PM T pulchemirra sm

Pauline Meyer’s winning photograph is a whole plant picture of Western Australia’s flamboyant Queen of Sheba Orchid.  It was taken at Eneabba, north of Perth and identified by a local as Thelymitra variegata but in consulting the books it would appear that it is the Northern Queen of Sheba, T. pulcherrima.  There are three species known as Queen of Sheba orchids in Western Australia – T. varigata, T. pulcherrima and T. speciosa.

T. variegata was originally named in 1839 by John Lindley but under the genus Macdonaldia.  In 1865 Ferdinand Mueller moved it to Thelymitra, later people began to separate it out to three different species* but it wasn’t until 2009 that Jeff Jeanes describeds T. pulcherrima and T. speciosa as distinct species from T. variegata.

All three species have a single thin spiral leaf and showy multi-coloured flowers.

T. pulcherrima and T. speciosa differ from T. variegata in the following points.

  • T. speciosa, begins flowering earlier, is a slightly shorter plant with fewer flowers (one, more rarely two) and although the flowers are a similar size to T. variegata they are even more colourful and the petals and sepals are distinctly different colours.
  • T pucherrima is similar in height to T. variegata but has smaller flowers with yellow, red, purple mauve sepals and pink purple mauve petals.  It too begins flowering earlier than T. variegata.
They all have distinct separate locations as reflected in the common names – Southern Queen of Sheba (T. variegata), Eastern Queen of Sheba (T. speciosa) and Northern Queen of Sheba (T. pulcherrima).  For some good images go to Retired Aussies or the Chookman
 
Finally there is one other species that is similar to these three and it is called Cleopatra’s Needle, T. apiculata.
 
  Thelymitra pulcherrima Theylmitra speciosa Thelymitra variegata
  Northern Queen of Sheba Eastern Queen of Sheba Southern Queen of Sheba
Distribution North of Perth between Lancelin and Dongara Between the Stirling Range and Condingup Between Perth & Albany with disjunct populations near Hyden
Flowering late June – early September late June – September August to September
Flower numbers 1 to 5 1 to 2 1 to 5
Flower height 150 – 350 100 – 200 mm 100 – 350 mm
Flower size 25 – – 35mm 30 – 50 mm 30 – 50 mm
Sepals Yellow, red, purple and mauve Yellow, red, purple and mauve Deep pink purple blotched
Petals Pink or purple and mauve Pink or purple and mauve Deep pink or purple and darker purple blotched
 
References:
Field Guide to the Orchids of Western Australia 2013, pages 425 & 427
I would like to thank Andrew Brown, co-author, for his help with this article.
 
* The name T. puchemirra is mentioned in the Western Australian Native Orchid Study and Conservation Group 2008 field trip report

Australian Orchids and the Doctors they Commemorate Part 2 of 20

In continuing this series of Professor John Pearn, links have been provided for the genera or species mentioned.  In this group most of them are from limited locations in Queensland.

Orchids named after medical professionals

Sixteen doctors who practised medicine and/or botany in Australia have their names recorded in the scientific names of 24 indigenous orchids of Australia. In addition, one separate species (Thelymitra flexuosa, also known as Thelymitra smithiana) and five genera of indigenous Australian orchids record the names of European doctors, pharmacologist–pharmacists or herbalists. The five genera are Burnettia Lindl. (described by John Lindley in 1840), a monospecific genus; Cadetia Gaud. (described by Charles Gaudichaud-Beaupré in 1829); Goodyera R.Br. (described by Robert Brown in 1813); Robiquetia Gaud. (described by Charles Gaudichaud-Beaupré in 1829); and Vrydagzynea Blume (described by Carl Ludwig Blume in 1858).

The Lizard Orchid, Burnettia cuneata, blooms in eastern Australia and Tasmania; it commemorates Gilbert Thomas Burnett (1800–1835), surgeon and foundation professor of botany at King’s College London.

In the genus Cadetia (delicate white orchids), four species are named after the apothecary of the French imperial court, Charles-Louis Cadet de Gassicourt (1769–1821) — C. collinsii, C. maideniana, C. taylori and C. wariana. They commemorate his life and works as an apothecary, soldier, scholar, writer, scientist and researcher.

The genus Goodyera is named after the 17th century herbalist John Goodyer (1592–1664).

Robiquetia commemorates Pierre Jean Robiquet (1780–1840), a French pharmacist, organic chemist, professor and foundation member of the Académie royale de Médecine (1820). He was the first to describe an amino acid (asparagine) (1806), and he characterised caffeine (1821) and discovered codeine (1832).

One species out of the 40 species of the Tonsil Orchids, Vrydagzynea grayi, grows in Australia. A rare orchid of the Daintree rainforest in north Queensland, it commemorates Theodore Daniel Vrydag Zynen (fl. 1850), a Dutch pharmacologist and contemporary of one of the most famous doctor–orchidologists, Karl Ludwig Blume (1796–1862). The Twisted Sun Orchid, Thelymitra flexuosa, commemorates the Norwich physician and friend of Joseph Banks, Sir James Edward Smith (1759–1828). When he was 25 years old, Smith took the decisive action to buy the great Linnean collection of plants, which were in danger of being lost to science following the death of Linnaeus’s son in 1783. Smith bought them when they were offered for sale in 1784. In conjunction with the bishop of Carlisle, he founded the Linnaean Society of London and was its first president. In 1798, he raised the new genus, Diuris, which is one of the first taxa of Pacific orchids to be described. The Lilly Pilly, Syzygium smithii, is another of his six botanical memorials.

A Revolution of a Sweet Kind

Ever since the Western world discovered the orchid in the 18th and 19th century there have been enthusiasts wanting to grow them but though an orchid may produce millions of seeds, for they are minuscule, only a relatively small number germinate.  The seeds do not have any stored food and are dependent upon fungi for germination.  This made it difficult for early orchid growers who relied on obtaining specimens from the wild – a most unsustainable practice!

Yet today cultivation of orchids is flourishing.  It is not dependent upon removing specimens from the bush.  In Australia it is illegal.

Today the orchid enthusiast can grow orchids from seeds at home.  The technique, invitro embryo germination, is popularly known as flasking.  It involves growing the seeds in a sterile agar medium to which the most significant ingredient was the addition of sugar.

At the time it was developed by Professor Lewis Knudson (1884 – 1958) of Cornell University in 1922 this method was revolutionary.

 

Reference:

Rasmussen J, April – June 1986, “Contact Dermatitis from Orchids” Clinics in Dermatology Volume 4 Number 2

Below are some examples of terrestrial orchids grown from seeds in flasks.

Flasking Terrestrial Orchid Seeds (3)  Flasking Terrestrial Orchid Seeds (2)  Flasking Terrestrial Orchid Seeds (1)

Photographs kindly supplied by Les Nesbitt.

 

Australian Orchids and the Doctors they Commemorate Part 1 of 20

Back in 2013, Professor John H Pearn, Emeritus, School of Medicine, University of Queensland wrote a five page article about medical doctors who were Australian orchidologists.  This was published in the Medical Journal of Australia.  My intention is to post direct quote extracts from his article.

First …..

Thank you, John Pearn for giving permission to post

Now to begin …….., at the beginning….. of course …………

Orchidaceae is the largest family of flowering plants. Orchids grow in habitats ranging from subalpine niches to the tropics, and they produce some of the most beautiful, varied and intriguing flowers. Of the more than 1300 genera and 33 000 species, more than 1300 named taxa of orchids, in 193 genera, grow in Australia.

The word “orchid” is from the Greek word orchis  (meaning testicle), which reflects the appearance of the  root tubers in some species. According to the “doctrine of signatures” –  a 16th century herbalist philosophy  which states that herbs resembling body parts can be used to treat those body parts – orchids were used continuously from preliterate times as aphrodisiacs and as medicaments to restore virility. Theophrastus (c. 372–288 BC) wrote about the medicinal value of orchids, as did Paracelsus (1491–1541) and Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778), the father of modern botanical taxonomy.  As a child, Linnaeus recorded details of his personally collected orchid specimens in his notebook, in which he wrote “Orchis from testiculus, through which its effects should occur”.

Orchid extracts such as vanilla (from Vanilla planifolia) and salep (from Orchis mascula and Orchis militaria) are used commercially in ice-cream, confectionery and medicinal flavouring agents. Crawley root preparations (from Corallorhiza odontorhiza) are used in folk medicine for their diaphoretic and antipyretic properties. In Australia, orchid preparations have been and continue to be used by Indigenous healers to treat diarrhoea and skin infections. Lieutenant (not yet Captain) James Cook used powdered orchid root as part of his method for preserving the health of his crew.

The physical manifestations of orchids, such as their flowers and the medicines and flavourings derived from them, are ephemeral. But the scientific names of orchids endure, and many perpetuate the lives and works of those who have contributed to medicine since the time of Aristotle. Here, I describe indigenous orchids of Australia whose scientific names commemorate doctors who worked in Australia, encapsulating a library of Australian medical history. These orchids comprise a monumentum aere perennius (monument more lasting than bronze) — a phrase coined by Horace in Book III of his Odes when referring to his own literary work.

To be continued ……………

Where in the world would you find an orchid?

In almost a word – every continent except the Antarctica.

Orchids are amazing, we expect to find them in the tropics but they can be found anywhere from the cold climes of Alaska to the semi-arid edge of the Australian deserts.

An Interactive Key to Australian Orchid Genera has an excellent chapter on habitats of Australian orchids.

15 habitats are listed with a list of the type of orchid likely to be found there.  The vast majority of Australian terrestrial orchids are found in either lowland (less than 500 metres altitude), in coastal regions or in open forest/woodland.  There are none in the Red Centre.

Orchidologist John Lindley (1799 – 1865)

John  Lindley (1799 – 1865), who named Thelymitra crinita, mentioned in a previous post, was one of the world’s earliest orchidologists and has been described as the Father of Modern Orchidology (Pridgeon, p.1). Having no formal university education, his career began under Sir Joseph Banks as assistant-librarian. He eventually rose to Professor of Botany, University College, London, amongst his many other numerous official duties and public activities. It was the result of Lindley’s work and involvement with a group of other likeminded men that Kew Garden was saved from destruction and Corn Tax was repealed at the time of the great Irish potato famine.

Although orchids were not his only area of  interest they were his passion and the common name ‘orchid’ was introduced by him in 1845.  Lindley became involved with the naming of orchids at a time when the western world was discovering the wealth of the orchid world and his subsequent work on orchids was prodigious. He personally examined and named thousands of species specimens, with one author stating that Lindley named over 6,000 orchid species, establishing over 120 genera. Notably he wrote three major orchid works Genera and Species of Orchidaceous Plants (1830 – 1840), Sertum orchidaceum (1838), and Folia orchidacea (1852-1855). He also wrote for the general public and one delightfully readable textbook was Ladies’ Botany or A Familiar Introduction to the Study of the Natural System of Botany Volume I and II (1834–1837).

Though not referring specifically to South Australia, he lamented  “that there are  still, however, many species from the East and North Coast (of Australia), with which he has no acquaintance”  [sic]. As far as I can determine none of our endemic orchids were named by him.

References:
Lindley,  J.  (1830).  The  genera  and  species  of orchidaceous plants /by John Lindley. Retrieved 30 Apr  2014,  from https://archive.org/details/mobot31753002698485

Lindley, J. (1839).  Appendix to the first twenty-three volumes of Edwards’s botanical register : consisting of a complete alphabetical and systematical index of names, synomymes and matter, adjusted to the present state of systematical botany, together with a sketch of the vegetation of the Swan River colony (http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/29179#page/59/mode/1up). London: James Ridgway.

“Lindley, John”. (2008). Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography  Retrieved 30 Apr. 2014, from http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2830902630.html

Pridgeon, A. (2005). Blue Plaque for John Lindley’s Home [Electronic Version]. Orchid Research Newsletter 46, 1. Retrieved 8 May 2014, from http://www.kew.org/herbarium/orchid/orn46.pdf

April 2014 Winning Photo

Thelymitra crinita

With a common name of Queen Orchid, Thelymitra crinita is aptly named, for the flower has a quiet regal air of elegance and delicacy that would appeal to many people. Lorraine Badger who took this photograph was one of those people.

T crinita is a common Western Australian orchid that can be found from Perth around to Albany with a disjunct area near Esperance. Back in 1839, it was one of 60 orchids named by John Lindley in ‘Appendix to the first twenty-three volumes of Edwards’s Botanical Register together with A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony’ page xlix. Though the register is written in English the species description is in Latin, here reproduced for all those Latin buffs –

(214)  helymitra crinita; folio radicali oblongo apiculato glabro, raceme cylindraceo, floribus purpureis, cuculli laciniis lateralibus barbatis unguiculatis intermediâ fornicatâ emarginatâ dorso glanduloso-villosâ

On a recent visit to the South Australian State Herbarium, Michelle Waycott, Chief Botanist, explained that there is a strict botanical standard for describing a species. You may  be pleased to  know  that  at  the  18th  International  Botanical Congress in Melbourne, Australia in July 2011, it was determined  that  from  the  1st January  2012  it  was  no longer mandatory for descriptions to be in Latin only. English can now be used.