orchid

/awr"kid/, n.

1. any terrestrial or epiphytic plant of the family Orchidaceae, of temperate and tropical regions, having usually showy flowers. Cf. orchid family.

2. the flower of any of these plants.

3. a bluish to reddish purple.

[1835-45; < NL Orchideae (later Orchidaceae) family name, equiv. to L orch(is) a plant (see ORCHIS) + -ideae, irreg. suffix (cf. -IDAE); see -ID²]

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Any of the 15,000–35,000 species in 400–800 genera of nonwoody perennial plants that make up the family Orchidaceae.

Bearing attractive flowers, orchids grow in most of the nonpolar world, especially in tropical regions, in soil or on other plants. Hybrids with showy flowers for the commercial trade come from the genera Cattleya, Cymbidium, Vanda, and Laelia. Flowers vary widely in size, colour, and shape, but all are bilaterally symmetrical and have three sepals. Most orchids photosynthesize, but some live on dead organic material or absorb food from a fungus living in their roots. Vanilla is extracted from the seedpod of the genus Vanilla. Many folk medicines, local beverages, and foods are prepared from parts of orchid plants.

Orchid (Polystachya bella).

Sven Samelius

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▪ plant

Introduction

 any of nearly 1,000 genera and more than 22,000 species of attractively flowered plants distributed throughout the world, especially in wet tropics. Orchidaceae is a member of Asparagales, an order of monocotyledonous flowering plants that also includes the asparagus and iris families. The word orchid is derived from the Greek word (orchis) for testicle because of the shape of the root tubers in some species of the genus Orchis. These nonwoody perennial plants are generally terrestrial or epiphytic herbs (i.e., growing on other plants rather than rooted in soil). Those attached to other plants often are vinelike and have a spongy root covering called the velamen that absorbs water from the surrounding air. Most species manufacture their own food, but some live on dead organic material (saprophytic) or are helped to obtain nourishment by a fungus living in their roots.

Structural diversity

      As a group, the orchids are different from other plants but only in the morphological (structural) characteristics associated with the flower and its organization. Even the special characteristics of orchid flowers, such as the masses of pollen called pollinia, the joining of the stamens and pistil to form a column, and the tiny seeds without endosperm are found individually in other groups of flowering plants. It is through the combination of several characteristics that a family of flowering plants, the Orchidaceae, emerges.

      Orchids are primarily herbaceous (nonwoody), although some species may be vines, vinelike, or somewhat shrubby. They may be terrestrial or epiphytic. Orchid flowers vary tremendously in size from the minute flowers of some species of the genus Pleurothallis, which are no more than about 2 millimetres (0.1 inch) in diameter, to the large ones of Brassia, which may be more than 38 centimetres (15 inches) from the tips of the lateral sepals (petallike structures) to the tip of the dorsal sepal. The wide range of growth habits varies from those in which the plant is reduced to no more than roots (Dendrophylax), to saprophytic plants apparently lacking chlorophyll (Corallorhiza), to gigantic plants (Arundina) that superficially resemble a bamboo. Further, the diversity of structure among orchid flowers can be attributed mainly to the methods of pollination found in the family or to the fact that the family is adapted for the utilization of a number of different types of pollinators.

Ecology

      Orchids have a wide ecological distribution when the entire family is considered. Although the family is primarily tropical, a number of species are found in the northern and southern temperate zones. At least four species have been reported from north of the Arctic Circle. A number of species of the North Temperate Zone are found in bogs, prairies, grasslands, and hardwood forests.

      Several species of Spiranthes, Habenaria, and other orchids are found in roadside ditches, often in wet, boggy situations. In some areas of the United States, Platanthera ciliaris might almost be considered a weed. The introduced Asian species Zeuxine strateumatica in southern Florida is now widespread and may be considered a weed.

      Orchids thrive in regions from sea level to at least 4,600 metres (15,000 feet) in elevation. The greatest number of orchid species is found in cloud-forest (cloud forest) associations in tropical regions, usually on mountainsides where the clouds brush the mountain day and night. Such forests are literally covered with mosses and lichens, and the inclination of the ground permits sunlight to penetrate through the vegetation to the ground. This is a perfect habitat for epiphytic orchids as well as members of the family Gesneriaceae and Araceae, ferns, and numerous other epiphytic plants.

      Contrary to popular belief, rain forests on generally flat terrain are poor localities for orchids. At Iquitos, on the Amazon River in Peru, only about 125 species of orchids have been reported, and many of these are quite rare. Orchids that do occur in rain forests tend to be in the tops of large trees; often great quantities of a single species inhabit a tree, while another nearby tree may have only one or two additional species. The tropical-deciduous seasonal hardwood forests of the tropics, where marked wet and dry periods occur, often have numerous orchid species; however, this also tends to be the best farmland, and therefore forests do not last long after cultivation.

      A wide range of ecological tolerance is shown by orchids. In addition to those species found above the Arctic Circle, a few species of orchids thrive in desert conditions; for example, in the dry areas of northern Peru, several species of orchids are found that are epiphytic on cacti. On the Santa Elena Peninsula in western Ecuador, two species of Oncidium as well as one species of Brassia are found on cacti. In parts of Central America one species of Brassavola is found growing on mangrove roots, often at, or only slightly above, the level of high tide. In Jamaica several species are found growing on bare rocks. In the Everglades of Florida in the United States, on the other hand, one species of Habenaria is almost aquatic. In western Mexico, one species of Pleurothallis is epiphytic on lichens.

      Orchids vary from those species that are very widespread, such as the species found throughout most of the tropical regions of the Western Hemisphere (e.g., Ionopsis utricularioides), to some species that seem to be restricted to a single mountain. In the West Indies, each of the major islands has a fair number of such restricted species.

Economic importance

      The orchid family is probably one of the most important of plant families from a horticultural point of view. Other than the horticultural uses to which orchids are put, the family is notably lacking in species from which products are derived. The only commercially important product derived from orchids is vanilla. Most vanilla is produced from one species, Vanilla planifolia, although two additional species are also cultivated commercially (V. pompona and V. tahitensis). The principal vanilla-growing areas are Madagascar, Mexico, French Polynesia, Réunion, Dominica, Indonesia, the West Indies, Seychelles, and Puerto Rico. Vanilla is grown from sea level to about 600 metres in elevation. The plant is a climbing vine that is indigenous to the tropical regions of the Western Hemisphere.

      Various other orchids are used for a variety of folk medicines and cures. In the West Indies, the bulbs of Bletia purpurea are boiled, and the liquid is thought to cure poisoning from fish. In Malaysia, women take a drink made from the boiled leaves of Nervilia aragoana to prevent sickness after childbirth. In Melaka (formerly Malacca), a state in western Malaysia, boils are treated with a poultice made from the entire plant of Oberonia anceps. In Chile, Spiranthes diuretica is known to be a strong diuretic. In certain parts of Ecuador, the mucilage from Catasetum is thought to be good for broken bones. In various parts of the world, certain orchids are also used for food or food supplements. In Malaysia, the leaves of one species of Anoectochilus are sold as a vegetable, and the leaves of Dendrobium salaccense are cooked as a seasoning with rice. In certain parts of the Asian tropics, the tubers of some species of Gastrodia are eaten like potatoes. Throughout the world several species of orchids are used as a glue substitute. In most cases, the glue is derived from the pseudobulbs. Salep is derived from the tubers of several species of Orchis. The tubers are boiled, then dried and powdered. The resulting preparation is often used as a flour substitute.

Characteristic morphological features

 The primary characteristics that distinguish the orchids as a group are found in the flower. At the bottom of an unspecialized non-orchid flower is the stem that supports it, called the pedicel. Directly above, and at the base of the flower itself, is a whorl of green, leaflike organs called sepals. Above and inside the sepals is a second whorl of coloured petals. Together the sepals and petals are called the perianth, which constitute the nonreproductive parts of the flower. The perianth protects the flower or attracts pollinators or both. Inside (also arranged in whorls) are the sexual portions of the flower. First are the pollen-producing stamens in up to several whorls; each stamen consists of an anther on a long slender filament. In the centre of the flower is the female pistil, which consists of an enlarged inferior ovary topped by a stalklike style with a stigma at its apex. The sepals and petals are usually similar, often highly coloured, and in sets of three. One petal is developed as a landing platform for the pollinator and is called the lip (or labellum).

      The sexual portions of the orchid flower are quite different from other generalized flowers, and they tend to characterize the family. The filaments, anthers, style, and stigma are reduced in number and are usually fused into a single structure called the column. The majority of the orchids retain only a single anther at the apex of the column.

      In the orchid the ovary is composed of three carpels fused so that the only outward evidence of their existence is the three ridges on the outside of the seed pods. The mature seed pod opens down the middle between the lines of juncture. The ovules are arranged along the ridges inside the ovary and do not develop until some time after the flower has been pollinated, thereby contributing to the long delay between pollination and the opening of a ripened pod.

      The sepals and petals are usually quite distinct and therefore retain their separate identification. The petal opposite the fertile stamen is called the lip, or labellum. Often two, or even all three, of the sepals are joined, and the lip, petals, or the sepals may be joined to the column for some distance. One of the characteristic differences between the orchid family and other advanced monocots is that the fertile stamen or stamens are on one side of the flower opposite the lip. This makes the flower bilaterally symmetrical.

      The lip is oriented upward in the bud, but, as it later develops, the pedicel or ovary twists so that the lip is usually oriented downward by the time the flower opens, a process called resupination.

      There are several types of nectaries in the orchids, including extrafloral types that secrete nectar on the outside of the buds or inflorescence (flower cluster) while the flower is developing. Shallow cuplike nectaries at the base of the lip are common. Some nectaries are in long spurs that develop either from the joined sepals or from the base of the lip. Members of the Epidendrum complex have long tubular nectaries embedded in the base of the flower alongside the ovary. Nectaries on the side lobes of the lips are known, and general nectar secretion along the central groove of the lip is common. The nectaries of the Orchidales are present on the sepals or petals, if they are present at all.

      In most orchids the anther is a caplike structure at the apex of the column. The anther of some of the more primitive orchids is superficially similar to that of a lily or amaryllis. In Habenaria and its allies the anther projects beyond the apex of the column but is thoroughly attached.

      The pollen grains are usually bound together by threads of a clear, sticky substance (viscin) in masses called pollinia. Two basic kinds of pollinia exist: one has soft, mealy packets bound together to a viscin core by viscin threads and is called sectile; the other kind ranges from soft, mealy pollinia, through more compact masses, to hard, waxlike pollinia; the latter usually have some mealy pollen with viscin strands that attach the pollinia to each other or to a viscidium. This portion of the pollinium is called the caudicle.

      The stigma, usually a shallow depression on the inner sides of the column, is composed of three stigmatic lobes (as in the typical monocot flower); however, the three lobes are fused together in the orchids. Faint lines often can be seen on the surface of the stigma, indicating its three-part structure.

      In the majority of the orchids, a portion of one of the three stigma lobes forms the rostellum, a flap of tissue that projects down in front of the anther separating the stigma and the anther. As the visiting insect backs out of the flower, it brushes the rostellum, which is covered with sticky stigmatic liquid. The pollinia are then picked up from the anther and adhere to the body of the insect. Some primitive species have no rostellum, and the pollinia simply stick to stigmatic liquid that is first smeared on the back of the insect. A further specialization occurs in more advanced orchids in which the caudicles of the pollinia are already attached to the rostellum and a portion of it comes off as a sticky pad called a viscidium. In the most advanced genera a strap of nonsticky tissue from the column connects the pollinia to the viscidium. This band of tissue is called the stipe and should not be confused with the caudicles, which are derived from the anther. Orchids that have a stipe also have caudicles that connect the pollinia to the apex of the stipe. The pollinia, stipe, and viscidium are called the pollinarium.

      Orchid seeds (seed and fruit) are extremely small and contain an undifferentiated embryo that lacks endosperm. A single seed pod produces a large number of small seeds, which are ideally suited for dispersal by wind. Orchid seeds need the presence of a fungus ( mycorrhiza) in order to germinate and grow in nature. The fungus apparently penetrates the seed and contributes to the growth of the seedling by producing or supplying some of the necessary nutrients for growth. It has not yet been firmly established whether or not the fungus is necessary for the continued growth of the mature plant, but it appears likely that the presence of the fungus aids in the uptake of nutrients and prevents the leaching of nutrients from the root material of epiphytic species. In some cases the presence of a specific species of fungus is necessary, while in other cases several fungi may have the ability to become involved in the process. It is possible to grow and germinate some orchids without the fungus in artificial cultures that supply the required nutrients.

      The majority of the tropical orchid species are epiphytes; nearly all the orchids in the temperate zones, however, are terrestrial.

      The predominant and perhaps primitive growth form in a wide range of monocots is sympodial growth, a creeping habit consisting of an axis that appears to be continuous but is actually made up of a succession of elements. Each of these elements originates not from a terminal bud but as a fork of a dichotomy, the other fork being weaker in growth or suppressed entirely. The usual form of a sympodium is a horizontal rootlike stem structure called a rhizome that terminates each “branch.” Most primitive orchids have a rather ordinary monocot appearance with a short rhizome stem and erect, nonthickened annual stems having scattered, spirally arranged leaves and a terminal inflorescence (flower cluster).

      Another growth form found in the orchid order is the monopodial habit, in which the stem has unlimited apical growth and the roots are not restricted to its basal portion.

      A great many orchids, especially the epiphytes, show variously thickened stems, or “pseudobulbs (corm).” While these structures are quite diverse in form, they fall into a limited number of morphological types and seem to show some evolutionary trends. One of these seeming trends is from pseudobulbs (or corms, bulblike stem structures) of several or many internodes (nodes are stem regions at which leaves attach, internodes are the stem areas between such nodes) to pseudobulbs of a single internode. Thickened stem bases may be found in either terrestrial or epiphytic groups, but pseudobulbs of a single internode are restricted to primarily epiphytic groups.

      Saprophytic orchids, those that obtain their food from dead organic matter instead of by photosynthesis, are found in a number of orchid groups. The majority of orchids pass through a saprophytic seedling stage, which may last for months, especially in terrestrial species. Thus, the evolution of a completely saprophytic life cycle in different groups of orchids is not surprising. The adaptations for saprophytism drastically change the vegetative features and occasionally even the reproductive features of the plant, thus obscuring some of the characteristics normally used for determining relationships. The saprophytes are difficult to cultivate and are poorly represented by herbarium specimens.

Natural history

      The life cycle of an orchid is not essentially different from that of any other flowering plant. When the pollinator (pollination) leaves one or more pollinia on the stigma, the pollen tubes germinate and grow down the centre of the column to reach the developing ovules in the ovary. This often causes the sides of the stigma to swell around the stigma and the enclosed pollinia. When the pollen tubes reach the ovules after about six weeks or longer, one or more ovules are fertilized, and the resulting zygotes develop into embryos. Most angiosperms undergo double fertilization, one of which forms the zygote and the other an endosperm that nourishes the developing plant upon germination until the plant is able to manufacture its own food. The orchid seed, however, has no endosperm. The seed consists of a simple, dry, outer coat enclosing a small mass of undifferentiated cells that form a pro-embryo. This extremely small and light unit can easily be carried in air currents and may travel long distances before coming to rest. The large number of seeds in a single orchid capsule undoubtedly is correlated with the unlikelihood of a seed's falling in a favourable spot during wind dispersal.

      The presence of the labellum as a landing platform for insect pollinators and the reduction of the stamens and pistil of a flower to a single structure, the column, is certainly the apex of floral adaptation to insects as pollinating agents. Once achieved, this combination provides a foundation for all kinds of specializations for attracting of specific pollinators.

      The function of pollen deposition is centralized precisely in the median plane opposite the labellum. Being directed back toward the centre of the flower, the anther deposits pollen on the most advantageous side of the visitor, considering efficiency in reception and deposition. This precision is also expressed by a tendency of orchids to deposit the pollen as two to eight masses, the pollinia.

      Orchids as a group use nectar as the major attractant, whereas pollen, sought by pollinators among more primitive plant families as a protein-rich food, has been withdrawn. This is tied to the exactness of the mechanics of pollination, but it also means that orchids can no longer provide the only source of sustenance for the pollinator, and other flowers must be present in the biosphere to maintain visitors.

      Nectar is provided in tubular nectaries (Brassavola, Angraecum, Comparettia, and other genera), in grooves on the labellum (e.g., Listera and Epipactis), and at the base of the column and lip (e.g., Dendrobium and Scaphyglottis). A large number of orchids are nectarless and have developed other means of attracting pollinators, largely consisting of deceptive attractants in one form or another.

      Many orchids attract pollinators with pseudopollen, a powdery mass resembling pollen that is found on the labellum of a number of species of Maxillaria and Polystachya. Sometimes the grains are detached outgrowths called papillae, and sometimes they are disintegrated multicellular hairs that are filled with starch.

      Flowers pollinated by bees open during the day and tend to have similar characteristics: agreeable odours, bright colours (except red, which bees see as black or gray), a landing platform, nectar guides in the form of coloured lines running into the depths of the flower, and concealed nectaries. The basal portions of the orchid lip are usually formed into a tunnel with the column constituting its upper side. The bee enters the tunnel to get at the nectary, and as the bee backs out some of the stigmatic fluid may be rubbed on its back. As the bee backs farther, the pollinia become attached to the sticky material and are carried with the bee to the next flower. In more advanced orchids the pollinia may be attached to a sticky pad, the viscidium, which becomes detached from part of the stigma and sticks to the pollinator.

      Some species of orchids are pollinated by bees that are attracted by means of deception (mimicry). The flowers of the large genus Oncidium, for example, are pollinated by male Centris bees in what appears to be a case of pseudoantagonism. The flower seems to simulate an enemy insect, which the male bee tries to drive away from his territory. As the bee strikes at the flower, the pollinia are attached to the head of the bee.

      The most exciting and unusual examples of deceit, traps, and manipulation of pollinators are to be found in those orchids that are pollinated by male euglossine bees (euglossine bee) (species of the bee tribe Euglossini). The syndrome of flowers that are pollinated by male euglossini is based on the attraction of the male bees to the odour of the flower. In no case does the male euglossine bee receive food from the orchid that it visits. The euglossine male bees visit other nectar-producing flowers for their food, but, when the male bees visit the non-nectar-producing orchid flowers, they rub the surface of the lip with their front feet and collect in special tarsal brushes the odour that is produced there. The bees then launch themselves into the air and transfer the odour to their hind tibiae (leg segments), which have become noticeably swollen. It is in the process of transferring the odour to the hind tibiae that the bee is manipulated by the orchid.

      Another variation of pollinator manipulation by orchids is found in the genus Coryanthes (bucket orchid). The flowers are very large and might even be considered grotesque. The sepals and petals fold back out of the way when the flower opens—like sails on a boat—revealing a strangely formed lip divided into three parts: a globular- or hood-shaped portion called the hypochile above; an elongate, sometimes fluted part, the mesochile; and a bucket-shaped epichile. The epichile is partially filled with water during the last few hours before the flower opens and for a short time afterward by two faucetlike organs located at the base of the column, which drip water. Male euglossine bees are attracted by the strong odour produced by the hypochile, where they scratch. In trying to launch into the air to transfer the odour to their hind legs, the bees occasionally fall into the water-filled bucket. The sides of the bucket are vertical and are very waxy, so that the bee is not able to climb out of the bucket. The only way for the bee to get out is through a small tunnel formed by the apex of the column and the apex of the epichile of the lip. As the bee forces its way out of the tunnel, the pollinarium is deposited on its thorax. The pollinia may then be deposited in the stigma of another flower on a next visit, provided the original pollinia of that flower have already been removed and the stigmatic cleft has opened sufficiently to become receptive.

      Because moths (pollination) normally fly at night, they are attracted to flowers that produce strong odours and are white or light-coloured. Moths hover in front of the flower while extracting the nectar. The typical moth-pollinated flower has a long, slender nectar tube containing abundant nectar. The fragrance produced is typically sweet or musky, and the flowers usually are horizontal or hanging. Butterflies (pollination), on the other hand, are day fliers and are attracted to highly coloured flowers that may or may not be fragrant. Butterflies tend to be somewhat erratic fliers and, lacking the ability to hover, usually land on the flower. The flowers are, therefore, usually erect and provide platforms for landing. Often the platform simply consists of a head of erect, densely packed flowers. Butterflies detect colours well, and butterfly-pollinated flowers are usually brightly coloured with red, orange, or yellow predominating. Nectar is commonly abundant and is hidden in deep nectar tubes. In most of the moth- and butterfly-pollinated orchids, the nectar tube is arranged to guide the tongue or beak in such a manner that the pollinia are correctly attached to the pollinating organism.

      In an oft-cited case, Charles Darwin (Darwin, Charles), the English naturalist, predicted that a moth with a 25-centimetre-long proboscis would eventually be found on the island of Madagascar as the pollinator of the orchid Angraecum sesquipedale, since a moth would need a long tongue to reach the nectar hidden in the very long nectary at the base of the lip. Such a moth has been found and has been observed pollinating the flowers of this amazing orchid.

      Flowers adapted to pollination by birds are usually brightly coloured, with reds, blues, and yellows predominating. They are usually tubular in form, often with a long nectary, and nectar is almost always present. Birds have little or no sense of smell, and bird-pollinated flowers tend to lack odour; however, the bright colours serve to attract the birds. Bird-pollinated orchids tend to follow the pattern of other bird flowers, but in some cases they diverge considerably. Many orchids of the Western Hemisphere appear to have adapted to bird pollination as an extension of butterfly pollination, and, as in the case of Epidendrum secundum, birds and butterflies act as copollinators. In such cases, orchid flowers already adapted to butterflies are not greatly changed morphologically. On the other hand, orchids that have adapted directly to hummingbirds from bee-pollinated ancestors have changed fundamentally. The genera Cochlioda, Sophronitis, Elleanthus, Isochilus, Comparettia, Hexisea, and Meiracyllium are all bird-pollinated and are remarkably similar in certain aspects. All have bright colours, tubular form, and a callus or hump in the interior of the tube, on the lip, which acts to force the beak of the bird against the column.

      Some flies (pollination) are important pollinators of flowers, and certain families of flies (e.g., the Syrphidae and Bombyliidae) are restricted to flowers for their food. Unspecialized flowers may attract flies to nectar, which is present in open, shallow nectaries and may emit sweet odours. The flies eat the nectar and do not store it as do bees. More specialized fly flowers may attract flies through deception, imitating decaying substances, dung, or carrion (carrion flower). Many kinds of flies are then attracted and act as effective pollinators.

      Fly-pollinated flowers have often developed traps for catching and holding unadapted visitors. They commonly have large landing surfaces and “tails” produced from the flower parts, which function as guides. Their colours are usually checkered or blotched and tend toward dull green, brown, purple, or red. The odours produced are commonly putrescent. Orchids pollinated by flies are common throughout the world. In most fly-pollinated orchids, special adaptations have developed—superimposed on the basic pattern of the bee-pollinated orchid flower—to guide the somewhat poorly oriented flies. Certain of the five petals may be long and taillike (as in Bulbophyllum and Masdevallia) or joined to form a flat radial flower (as in Stelis). The flowers themselves may be arranged to form a larger radial, compound “flower” (as in Cirrhopetalum). The petals or lip may be fringed with motile clublike hairs that vibrate in the wind and attract the flies (Bulbophyllum). Often the sepals are joined or the lip is saccate to form a trap (Pterostylis) into which the flies fall and from which they must crawl by way of a tunnel that passes the stigma and anther. A common contrivance by which orchids exploit flies is a hinged, balanced lip that tips with the weight of the fly and launches the pollinator into the flower.

      In orchids it is often difficult to decide when simple fly pollination ends and deception that is based on carrion mimicry begins. Many genera have some species whose pollination is based simply on attracting various kinds of flies by means of sweet odours and nectar production, while others attract flies on the basis of rotten odours but provide no food.

      Three major groups of orchids have become predominantly fly-pollinated: the subtribe Pleurothallidinae in tropical America, containing more than 4,000 species; the Bulbophyllum group of about 1,800 species found mainly in the Old World; and the large genus Pterostylis (greenhood) and its relatives in Australia.

      Self-pollination occurs in a significant number of orchids. Several degrees of this phenomenon may be found in a single genus, from species in which accidental self-pollination results in fertilization to those in which the flowers never open, yet are capable of producing fertile seed. In many orchids, self-fertilization is not possible because of genetically controlled self-incompatibility, in which pollen from a plant having a particular combination of genetic factors will not fertilize its own ovules or those of any other plant having the same combination.

      In most species the pollen is kept separate from the stigma by the rostellum. This physical barrier is normally quite effective; but, in some species, forms occur in which the rostellum degenerates or becomes stigmatic, and self-pollination results when the pollen germinates on the stigmatic fluid. In most of these forms, normal plants are also found in the same population. Self-pollination may also occur as a result of simple falling of old pollinia, a means of averting sterility at the end of a long normal period when the flower is open but no pollinator arrives.

      A kind of mechanical self-pollination occurs in some orchids in which the tissues connecting the viscidium and the pollinia bend down and carry the pollinia into place on the stigma. Generally speaking, self-fertilization in orchids seems to be a means of averting extinction in plants growing under conditions adverse for normal pollination relationships. Examples include some species of Orchis in Europe and several orchids in Florida, such as Epidendrum nocturnum and Bletia purpurea, all of which have cross-pollinated forms in other areas. Seeds blow into Florida from the Caribbean area where normal pollinators exist, but the plants that survive tend to be self-pollinated because they lack their customary pollinators, which are not found in Florida.

      Flowers of the genus Ophrys deceive and manipulate pollinators mainly through odours, imitating (mimicry) those produced by the abdominal glands of female bees or wasps. Flower shapes, colours (including ultraviolet reflection), and tactile stimuli by the hairs on the lip operate on the sensory organs of the visiting males, leading ultimately to the same behaviour as that observed during the initial phases of copulation with female bees. No ejection of sperm occurs, however, but the supernormal olfactory stimulation ensures that the male will remain for a long stay on the flower.

      This act of pseudocopulation takes place in such a way that the pollinia are carried off and redeposited on a different plant. Four genera of solitary bees and wasps appear to be the principal pollinators. The orchid species of Ophrys that are pollinated by the wasps Trielis and Gorytes, and the bee Eucera induce the insects to attempt copulation with the apex of the lip. Those orchids pollinated by Andrena appear, for the most part, to stimulate the bee to reverse its position and copulate with the base of the lip. In the former group the pollinarium is affixed to the head of the pollinator, while in the latter it is attached to the abdomen. Only the introductory behaviour is necessary for pollination of the flower, and the bees do not encounter structures that lead to ejection of sperm. The behaviour is elicited by tactile stimulation from the hairs on the labellum, but the male “suitor” requires simultaneous and continued olfactory stimulation. The glistening pseudonectaries apparently imitate the eyes of the female bee. Metallic-blue mirror spots similar to those found in the females enhance the effect. Dimensions of the flowers in the various species of Ophrys help in determining specificity and success.

      Australian orchids of the genus Cryptostylis are pollinated by ichneumon wasps of the genus Lissopimpla. The wasp, after backing into the stigma, attempts to copulate with the flower by bending its body into an arch, with the base of the lip of the flower held by the claspers of the wasp. The upper side of the apex of the abdomen comes in contact with the viscidium, and the pollinarium becomes cemented in place. The wasp, after a short pause, then flies to another flower, and the same behaviour delivers the pollinia to the stigma.

      The South American orchid Trichoceros antennifer has flowers that simulate the female flies of the genus Paragymnomma to a remarkable degree. The column and base of the lip are narrow, barred with yellow and red-brown, and they extend laterally to simulate the extended wings of a sitting fly. The base of the lip has no particular similarity to the head and thorax of a fly, but this is probably not necessary to complete the illusion. The stigma of the flower is located more or less at the apex of the “false abdomen” of the flower and reflects sunlight, as does the genital orifice of the female fly. The viscidium, extended over the stigma on the slender rostellum, projects up through the bristles and becomes attached to the basal portion of the abdomen of the fly. The viscidium is flat and padlike in this genus. The male flies, deceived by the simulated female fly and stimulated by the signal from the genital-orifice-like stigma, strike the flower for only a moment and then pass on to other flowers in the same area. The action is sufficient, however, to pick up the pollinarium. The long, slender stipe of the pollinarium bends down slightly and is forced into the stigma when the fly visits a succeeding flower.

      A number of species of orchids have developed nectaries located in other places on the plant body than the flower. These seem to attract ants (ant), which in turn scare away bees that would otherwise rob the flower of its nectar by cutting into the tissues of the flower. Such extrafloral nectaries also attract wasps, which also scare away insects that might steal the nectar from the flower. These ants and wasps are also thought to keep away grasshoppers, crickets, caterpillars, and other insects that eat the flowers. The symbiotic relationship (i.e., two organisms living together with mutual benefit) between ants and the orchids that grow only in ant nests (e.g., Coryanthes and some species of Gongora, Epidendrum, and Schomburgkia) may depend on this defensive mechanism. The plants and flowers of these orchids are extremely susceptible to damage by chewing insects if the ants are destroyed. The ants involved in this relationship do not pollinate the orchids; indeed, no ants are known to pollinate orchids.

Calaway H. Dodson

Additional Reading

Helmut Bechtel, Phillip Cribb, and Edmund Launert, The Manual of Cultivated Orchid Species, 3rd ed. (1992; originally published in German, 1980), a well-illustrated encyclopaedic treatment of cultivated orchids; Robert L. Dressler, The Orchids: Natural History and Classification (1981, reissued 1990); Floyd S. Shuttleworth, Herbert S. Zim, and Gordon W. Dillon, Orchids, rev. ed. (1989), containing illustrated general information and a survey of the principal orchid genera and species; L. van der Pijl and Calaway H. Dodson, Orchid Flowers: Their Pollination and Evolution (1966), a detailed treatment; the series Orchid Biology: Reviews and Perspectives, ed. by Joseph Arditti (1977– ).

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