Orchids (Orchidaceae)

Orchidaceae is a diverse and widespread family of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and often fragrant, commonly known as the orchid family. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering plants, with between 21,950 and 26,049 currently accepted species, found in 880 genera. The determination of which family is larger is still under debate, because verified data on the members of such enormous families are continually in flux. Regardless, the number of orchid species nearly equals the number of bony fishes and more than twice the number of bird species, and about four times the number of mammal species. The family also encompasses about 6–11% of all seed plants.[4] The largest genera are Bulbophyllum (2,000 species), Epidendrum (1,500 species), Dendrobium (1,400 species) and Pleurothallis (1,000 species).

The family also includes Vanilla (the genus of the vanilla plant), Orchis (type genus), and many commonly cultivated plants such as Phalaenopsis and Cattleya. Moreover, since the introduction of tropical species into cultivation in the 19th century, horticulturists have produced more than 100,000 hybrids and cultivars. (Wikipedia)

Haeckel Orchidae

A lithographic color plate from Ernst Haeckel's Kunstformen der Natur of 1899 showing an artist's depiction of different varieties of orchids
Left: Haeckel Orchidae     Right: Haeckel Orchidae big spots
1. Odontoglossum naevium = Odontoglossum naevium Lindl.
2. Oncidium kramerianum = Psychopsis krameriana (Rchb.f.) H.G.Jones
3. Odontoglossum ramosissimum = Cyrtochilum ramosissimum (Lindl.) Dalström
4. Odontoglossum schroederianum = Oncidium schroederianum (O'Brien) Garay & Stacy
5. Cattleya ballantiniana = Cattleya × ballantiniana Rchb.f. (C. trianae Linden & Rchb.f. × C. warscewiczii Rchb.f.)
6. Cattleya mendellii = Cattleya mendelii Dombrain
7. Cypripedium lemoinieri = Phragmipedium × sedenii (Rchb.f.) Rolfe (P. longifolium (Warsz. & Rchb.f.) Rolfe × P. schlimii (Linden ex Rchb.f.) Rolfe)
8. Cattleya rochellensis = Cattleya warscewiczii Rchb.f.
9. Cypripedium leeanum = Paphiopedilum insigne (Wall. ex Lindl.) Pfitzer × P. spicerianum (Rchb.f.) Pfitzer
10. Odontoglossum wattianum = Oncidium × wattianum (Rolfe) J.M.H.Shaw, Orchid Rev. 121 (1304, Suppl.): 77. (2013)
11. Cattleya labiata = Cattleya labiata
12. Epidendrum atropurpureum = Encyclia cordigera (Kunth) Dressler (1964)
13. Cypripedium argus = Paphiopedilum argus (Rchb.f.) Stein
14. Paphinia rugosa = Paphinia rugosa Rchb.f.
15. Zygopetalum xanthinum = Promenaea xanthina (Lindl.) Lindl.
16. Oncidium laxense = Oncidium loxense Lindl. / Cyrtochilum loxense (Lindl.) Kraenzl.

Image sources: Left: commons.wikimedia.org   commons.wikimedia.org   Right: commons.wikimedia.org

Flowers

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Magnoliophyta, also called angiosperms). The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs. Flowers may facilitate outcrossing (fusion of sperm and eggs from different individuals in a population) or allow selfing (fusion of sperm and egg from the same flower). Some flowers produce diaspores without fertilization (parthenocarpy). Flowers contain sporangia and are the site where gametophytes develop. Flowers give rise to fruit and seeds. Many flowers have evolved to be attractive to animals, so as to cause them to be vectors for the transfer of pollen.

In addition to facilitating the reproduction of flowering plants, flowers have long been admired and used by humans to beautify their environment, and also as objects of romance, ritual, religion, medicine and as a source of food. (Wikipedia)

Flowers

Flowers     Flowers

Image sources: en.wikipedia.org   www.flickr.com  

Various flowers from different families

Various flowers from different families (Flowers of Israel)    

Image sources: commons.wikimedia.org