Apr 11th, 2017: Orchidaceae

[xoxoxoBruce]

The Orchidaceae are a diverse and widespread family of flowering plants, with blooms that are often colorful and often
fragrant, commonly known as the orchid family.

Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering plants. The Orchidaceae have about 28,000 currently accepted species, distributed in about 763 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 is 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. The largest genera are Bulbophyllum (2,000 species), Epidendrum (1,500 species), Dendrobium (1,400 species) and Pleurothallis (1,000 species).

Orchids are easily distinguished from other plants, as they share some very evident, shared derived characteristics, or "apomorphies". Among these are: bilateral symmetry of the flower (zygomorphism), many resupinate flowers, a nearly always highly modified petal (labellum), fused stamens and carpels, and extremely small seeds.

What Really Happened.

Henry, I’m tired of trekking through these swamps and jungles, classifying plants.
I say, Nigel, look at this strange flower.
An Orchid… I miss my wife.
Nigel what about this one?
A damn Orchid… I want to go home.
Look at this strange flower, Nigel.
It's a fucking Orchid… Pack up, we’re leaving.


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