Orchids - Family: Orchidaceae
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"Orchids were not made by an ideal engineer; they are jury-rigged from a limited set of available components." - Stephen Jay Gould (1941-2002)
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The Family Orchidaceae or orchid family ranks amongst the two largest plant families in the world. At around 28,000 species each for the Orchidaceae and for the Asteraceae the two families cannot be separated for the honour of being the largest. One thing is certain though, in that there is no other plant family that displays the amount of variation in flowers amongst its' members.
Actual numbers do vary due to ongoing taxonomic work but the ochid family is divided into some 800+ genera. The largest among the genera are Bulbophyllum, Epidendrum and Dendrobium with about 5,000 species between them. |
China is regarded as the country where orchids were first cultivated some 3,000 years ago but, in the late 17th century people in Europe, particularly in the Netherlands, commenced the cultivation of numerous tropical and sub-tropical species of orchids that were brought back by ships involved in the spices trade in the Far East. People learned to raise orchids from seed and, hybrids and cultivars were developed. World-wide, more than 100,000 hybrids and cultivars have been produced since and orchids are rightfully regarded as the most popular plants amongst horticulturists, professional and amateur alike.
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Orchids can be found on every continent except Antarctica and in just about any habitat. Whereas most are found in the tropics, they are also found within the confines of the Arctic Circle in Canada and Siberia and as far south as Macquarie Island.
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Many of the flowers of the Orchidaceae are highly specialized depending on the means of pollination it relies on, which accounts for the vast amount of structural variety among them. Pollination methods are often unique to the genera or the species. Flowers therefor are often long-lasting as the plant has to wait for the right pollinator to happen along. Often these pollinators are specific insects wether flying or crawling, sometimes bats, sometimes birds. There are also orchids that rely solely on self-pollination. Others may have 'exploding' pollen sacs. Some orchids use mimicry, they may look like the female of a particular insect and the males of the insect will pollinate the flower as it tries to 'mate' with it. In southern N.S.W. there is a species (Rhizanthella slateri) that lives exclusively underground and it relies on ants and other ground-dwelling insect for its' pollination.
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In the colder climates orchids may be terrestrial, in other words they are ground-dwellers with a root system that draws water and nutrients from the soil they grow in. Many of the orchids that are found in warmer climates are 'epiphytes'. These are plants that rely on trees, usually, or other plants for support even though they have there own specialized root system for water and nutrient uptake.
Yet other orchids are 'lithophytes'. Orchids that grow exclusively on rocks. Australia, including Tasmania has a good varity of species that display this particular growth habit. Finally there are orchids that do not have any chlorophyll and are dependent on certain soil fungi to provide them with nutrients. These orchids are called 'myco-heterotrophs'. In general, nearly all orchids have a symbiotic relationship with certain specialized fungi to facillitate germination of the seeds. |
The type genus for the Orchidaceae is Orchis. This itself comes from the Greek word 'orkhis' (first used by Theophrastos, a Greek natural historian from ca. 371 - ca. 287 BC) which translates into 'testicles', a very apt descriptive of the shape of the twin tubers in some of the species within the genus. In England during the period 1100 - 1500 AD, orchids were referred to as 'Bollockworts' for the same reason.
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The Northern Rivers has its' fair share of native orchids. There are upto 268 species in 40 genera in 4 sub-families.
To make access easier the Orcids have been divided over six pages a summary of which is given below.
Use the links below (in red) to go to the page you wish to visit or use the thumbnails above.
To make access easier the Orcids have been divided over six pages a summary of which is given below.
Use the links below (in red) to go to the page you wish to visit or use the thumbnails above.
PART ONE. > Subfamily: Epidendroideae
> Tribe: Collabieae
> Genus: Calanthe
> Genus: Phaius
> Tribe: Dendrobieae
> Genus: Bulbophyllum
> Section: Adelopetalum
> Section: Minutissima
> Section: Monanthes
> Section: Uncifera
> Genus: Dendrobium
> Section: Dendrocoryne (Australian Dendrobiums)
> Section: Dockrillia
> Section: Monophyllaea
> Tribe: Epidendreae
> Subtribe: Laeliinae
> Genus: Epidendrum
> Tribe: Gastrodieae
> Subtribe: Gastrodinae
> Genus: Gastrodia
> Tribe: Malaxideae
> Genus: Liparis (Widelip Orchids)
> Genus: Oberonia (Fairy Orchids)
> Tribe: Nervilieae
> Subtribe: Epipogiinae
> Genus: Epipogium
PART TWO. > Subfamily: Orchidoideae
> Tribe: Cranichideae
> Subtribe: Goodyerinae
> Genus: Cheirostylis
> Genus: Danhatchia
> Subtribe: Pterostylidinae
> Genus: Pterostylis
> Subtribe: Spiranthinae
> Genus: Spiranthes (Ladies' Tresses)
> Complex: Spiranthes sinensis
PART THREE. > Tribe: Diurideae
> Subtribe: Acianthinae
> Genus: Acianthus (Mosquito Orchids)
> Genus: Corybas (Helmet Orchids)
> Genus: Cyrtostylis (Gnat Orchids)
> Subtribe: Caladeniinae
> Genus: Adenochilus
> Genus: Caladenia
> Genus: Cyanicula
> Genus: Eriochilus (Bunny Orchids)
> Genus: Glossodia (Waxlip Orchids)
PART FOUR. > Subtribe: Cryptostylidinae
> Genus: Cryptostylis
> Subtribe: Diuridinae
> Genus: Diurus (Donkey Orchids)
> Genus: Orthoceras
> Subtribe: Drakaeinae
> Genus: Arthrochilus (Elbow Orchids)
> Genus: Caleana (Duck Orchids)
> Genus: Chiloglottis (Bird and Wasp Orchids)
> Subtribe: Megastylidinae
> Genus: Lyperanthus
PART FIVE. > Subtribe: Prasophyllinae
> Genus: Genoplesium
> Genus: Microtis (Onion-Orchids)
> Genus: Prasophyllum (Leek-Orchids)
> Subtribe: Thelymitrinae
> Genus: Calochilus (Beard Orchids)
> Genus: Thelymitra (Sun Orchids)
PART SIX. > Subfamily: Vandoideae (Higher Epidendroideae)
> Tribe: Cymbidieae
> Subtribe: Cymbidinae
> Genus: Cymbidium (Boat-lipped Orchids)
> Genus: Dipodium (Hyacinth-Orchids)
> Subtribe: Eulophiinae
> Genus: Geodorum
> Tribe: Vandeae
> Subtribe: Aeridinae
> Genus: Peristeranthus
> Genus: Plectorrhiza
> Genus: Rhinerrhiza
> Genus: Sarcochilus
> Genus: Taeniophyllum
> Subfamily: Vanilloideae
> Tribe: Vanilleae
> Genus: Erythrorchis
> Genus: Pseudovanilla
References and links::
Copeland, L. and Backhouse. G., (2022) Guide to Native Orchids of N.S.W. and A.C.T., CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Victoria.
Jones, David L., (2020) A Complete Guide to Native Orchids of Australia, 3rd Edition., Reed New Holland Publishers, Sydney, N.S.W.
https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://id.biodiversity.org.au/taxon/apni/51316871
https://www.britannica.com/plant/orchid
https://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=fm&name=ORCHIDACEAE
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/biochemistry-genetics-and-molecular-biology/orchidaceae
https://austplants.com.au/resources/Documents/North-Shore-Documents/Talks/Orchidaceae%202021%20talk%20notes.pdf
Text:
E.Beringen.
E.Beringen.