Confused by Too Many Types of Orchids?
Confused by Too Many Types of Orchids?
Books talk about over 20,000 species or types of orchid that naturally occur. That is a lot of types of anything. Perhaps that is too many types of orchid. There are hybrids and purebreds. In fact, there are over 100,000 orchid hybrid types. There are pages about wild orchid growing and the bad habits of the orchid collectors. They, in fact, are a protected species in many parts of the world and photographs only are allowed. You cannot pick them, just as you are not supposed to pick the billions of bluebonnets that bloom beside the Texas roads in the early spring months.
Wild orchids are a thing to be viewed and not touched. There are so many types of orchid that they seem to be self-propagating at this point. 800 new species of orchid are either invented or discovered each year. At this rate the number of orchid types will demand whole libraries be dedicated to literature and prints of their beauty.
Hybrids or Not
In nature, hybrids of plants occur all the time, in fact many of the so called wild orchids may have actually originated in this manner. Nature is infinitely more capable of naturally producing beauty than the finest orchid specialist. Bees, wasps, moths and things fly between plants carrying the pollen from one plant to another. Sometimes they cross-pollinate the plants and a hybrid is borne. As with all plants and animals not all hybrids survive, otherwise the number of mutant orchid types would be in the millions, not the thousands it is today.
Now along comes intelligent man. Man believes that they are the perfect creature and they are controlling the perfect plant. The number of hybrid orchid types now far exceeds the number of known naturally occurring varieties. This has been going on since 1854. This is truly big business. There is even an internationally accepted registry to maintain the varieties and types of orchids and the breeding methods for each hybrid. This registry maintained by the Royal Horticultural Society in the United Kingdom is meticulously maintained and is considered the bible for orchid growers around the world.
The question is why are we doing this? Why does man focus so much on the development of a plant? Indeed, this is not the only plant that comes under so much focus. There are rose growers that spend their whole life trying to perfect the perfect hybrid. The answer lies in the simple peace that can be seen in the beauty of a plant. There is no sound, no voice that can speak as loudly to the soul as natures own beauty. This is perhaps why man continues to try to create the perfect type of orchid.