Orchid

The orchid is a flowering plant known for its colorful, often unusual blooms. Orchids belong to one of the largest plant families on Earth. Scientists have identified more than 28,000 species of orchids, and new ones are still being discovered. They grow on every continent except Antarctica.

Most orchids live in warm, wet places like rainforests. Many do not grow in soil at all. Instead, they cling to the bark of trees high above the ground, where they catch rain and tiny bits of food from the air. These tree-dwelling orchids are called epiphytes. Their roots dangle in the open air and soak up moisture like a sponge. Other orchids grow in the ground, and a few even grow on rocks.

Orchid flowers come in nearly every color except true black. Some are smaller than a grain of rice. Others, like the tiger orchid of Southeast Asia, can grow flower clusters more than 10 feet across, taller than a basketball hoop. Each flower has three petals and three sepals, but one petal is usually shaped differently from the others. This special petal is called the lip, and it works as a landing pad for visiting insects.

Orchids have some of the strangest tricks in the plant world for getting pollinated. Some bee orchids grow flowers that look and smell like female bees. Male bees try to mate with the flower and carry pollen to the next one by accident. Other orchids smell like rotting meat to attract flies. A few even trap insects briefly inside the flower, dusting them with pollen before letting them go.

The seeds of an orchid are tiny, almost like dust. A single seed pod can hold more than a million seeds. But orchid seeds carry no stored food, so they cannot sprout on their own. They need a special fungus in the soil to feed them while they grow. This partnership between orchid and fungus is one reason orchids can be hard to grow from seed.

People have loved orchids for thousands of years. Ancient Chinese writers described them more than 2,500 years ago. In the 1800s, wealthy collectors in Europe paid huge sums for rare tropical orchids, and a craze called "orchidelirium" swept across England. Today, orchids are the most popular houseplant sold in the United States. The vanilla bean, used to flavor ice cream and cake, comes from the dried seed pod of a climbing orchid native to Mexico.