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CULTURAL AND WILD PLANTS
Orchid. Legends, myths, symbolism, description, cultivation, methods of application
Directory / Cultivated and wild plants Content
Orchid, Orchidaceae. Photos of the plant, basic scientific information, legends, myths, symbolism
Basic scientific information, legends, myths, symbolism Sort by: Orchidaceae (Orchidaceae) Family: Orchidaceae Origin: Orchids are one of the most diverse plant families, with about 25 species. They are distributed almost all over the world, with the exception of Antarctica and the extreme northern and southern regions. Area: The range of orchids is very wide and varied, including tropical, subtropical, temperate and cold regions. They can grow on trees, on rocks, on the ground or in water. Chemical composition: Orchids contain many biologically active compounds such as alkaloids, glycosides, phenols, flavonoids, terpenes and others. Some types of orchids are known for their scents and are used in the manufacture of perfumes. Economic value: Orchids are widely used as ornamental plants, especially for interior decoration and aerial gardening. They are also used in the manufacture of perfumes and cosmetics. In some countries, orchids are prescribed in traditional medicine as an anti-inflammatory, antipyretic and antibacterial agent. Some types of orchids also find use in cooking. Legends, myths, symbolism: In Greek mythology, orchids were associated with the god of love, Eros, and his mother, the goddess of beauty, Aphrodite. One legend says that Aphrodite saw a beautiful girl and turned her into an orchid to protect her from Eros. Another legend says that Eros dropped his arrows on the ground, and from them grew orchids, which were endowed with the magical power of attraction. In Chinese culture, orchids symbolize beauty, purity, and elegance. They are also associated with luck, abundance and prosperity. In Japan, orchids are considered a symbol of courage and respect, and their images are often used in art, especially in painting. In Western culture, orchids are associated with luxury, sophistication and elegance. They can also symbolize sensuality and femininity. However, in some cultures, orchids are also considered a symbol of death and sadness. In addition, in folk magic, orchids were used to attract love and passion, and their roots and leaves were used in talismans and amulets to protect against evil spirits and corruption.
Orchid, Orchidaceae. Description, illustrations of the plant Orchid. Legends, myths, history
It is not surprising that since ancient times orchids have been covered with many legends and tales. Everything beautiful is instantly overgrown with myths. At different times, legends about orchids arose in China, where they have been known since the XNUMXth century BC. e., and in Latin America and later in Europe. A beautiful legend about the origin of orchids originated in New Zealand. The Maori tribes, fascinated by the beauty of orchids, were confident in their divine origin. Long ago, long before humans existed, the only visible parts of the earth were the snow-capped peaks of high mountains. From time to time the sun thawed the snow, thus causing the water to descend from the mountains in a stormy stream, forming amazing waterfalls. Those, in turn, rushed towards the seas and oceans with seething foam, after which, evaporating, they formed curly clouds. These clouds eventually completely blocked the view of the earth from the sun. Once the sun wanted to pierce this impenetrable cover. There was heavy tropical rain. After him, a huge rainbow formed, embracing the entire sky. Fascinated by the hitherto unseen spectacle, immortal spirits - the only inhabitants of the earth at that time - began to flock to the rainbow from all, even the most distant lands. Everyone wanted to grab a place on the colorful bridge. They pushed and fought. But then everyone sat down on the rainbow and sang in unison. Little by little, the rainbow sagged under their weight, until it finally collapsed to the ground, scattering into a myriad of small multi-colored sparks. Immortal spirits, who had never seen anything like it before, watched the fantastic colorful rain with bated breath. Every particle of the earth gratefully accepted the fragments of the heavenly bridge. Those that were caught by the trees turned into orchids. From this began the triumphal procession of orchids across the earth. There were more and more multi-colored lanterns, and not a single flower dared to challenge the right of an orchid to be called the queen of the flower kingdom. The legend of the white orchid. A young man named Joao received a royal order to find a rare orchid of an exotic color in the jungles of South America to decorate the palace. The search proved dangerous and difficult, and a few weeks later, delirious and feverish, half-dead, Juan reached the village. The villagers gave him shelter in a small village church and took care of him as best they could. When Juan came to his senses, he was amazed to see a magnificent white orchid growing right on the cross of the church roof. He asked the priest to give him this plant, but received a firm refusal. The priest explained this by saying that during the terrible famine, which was accompanied by a long drought, the villagers began to waver in their Christian faith. And in order to bring back the villagers from their paganism, the priest promised that the rains would come as soon as the villagers donate their most valuable thing to the temple. Believing the priest, the people brought a magnificent orchid, which they removed from the altar of their pagan gods and attached to the church cross. As soon as they did so, the sky became overcast with heavy clouds and it began to rain. When the storm ended, the villagers were surprised to notice that the rain had washed away all the color from the orchid petals and now the flowers were white and transparent, like the moon. The Indians of the Amazon gave orchids a poetic name - "daughters of the air." Goddess Orchid. Once upon a time, in the country of the four parts of the world, the gods lived, enjoying warm communication. Among them, the goddess Orchid stood out for her indescribable beauty. The young goddess, the daughter of the god of honesty and the goddess of joy, valued light most of all in her life, so she never noticed the shadow from the divine bodies falling to the ground. Orchid blindly saw only tenderness in any movement. Her eyes were unable to see the gross and the ugly, the dark and the monotonous. In everything she saw an endless range of colors, a boundless vibration of light. For such an unusual vision, some gods condemned the Orchid for lack of wisdom, excessive kindness and an illusory perception of reality. This led to discord between the gods. Some of the gods blamed Orchid's mother, believing that an excess of joy in the process of upbringing in childhood does not at all contribute to full spiritual development. The gods demanded that in the upbringing of the soul there should be elements of indifference to all joy and sorrow. These gods adhered to the patriarchal principles of planetary life. They called for a kind of mental activity in which fragmentation would certainly manifest itself as an evil. Only knowledge of the whole is good. In the end, the conservative gods accused the good Orchid of ignorance and lack of wisdom, and in the divine country of the four parts of the world it was impossible to exist without sufficient wisdom, so the life of the Orchid was threatened. The conservative gods firmly defended their positions, otherwise they themselves might be accused of ignorance. In the divine world there can be no question of ignorance. Therefore, because of the Orchid, a fierce struggle broke out among the powerful gods. Another part of the gods defended the Orchid, justifying its special vision as a phenomenon of progress, promising a more spacious future in space, which will be filled with new supplies of light. These liberal-minded gods explained the behavior of the Orchid as a wise and conscious indifference to rudeness and ugliness. They perceived the Orchid as a more sublime entity. They tried to use the image of the Orchid as a kind of destructive tool that could destroy the ignorance that had penetrated into the divine world. While the gods, divided into two camps, tried to isolate Orchid, one of the young gods fell in love with her kind soul without ever seeing her. This god's name was Archie. He patronized all kinds of art. But Archie's love for Orchid did not at all promise him good luck and favor. After all, Orchid saw the world without shadows, light - without darkness, line - without color, air - without clouds, rain - without water. Orchid, as if blind, saw only her own inner world, and Archie could not teach people art without recognizing shadows and hard lines. Because of his love for Orchid, he practically lost his skill. This could threaten him with expulsion from the divine world, but Archie could not do anything about his own passion for the Orchid. Orchid, having learned about Archie's love for her, strongly wanted to meet him. But the gods forbade them to see each other until the end of the philosophical trial of the Orchid, and the legal disputes lasted without end. Then Archie decided to use his skillful skill and dexterity to steal the Orchid from her divine dungeon. Such an act was unforgivable in the world of the gods. This was considered outright violence and ignorance. Archie was banished once and for all from the country of the four parts of the world. This meant eternal wandering through the forests and tears. Upon learning of this, Orchid closed her eyes and, immersed in the eternal search for her lover, turned into a forest flower. They say that during the rainy season, Orchid especially often tries on bright clothes.
Many orchids are so unusual that sometimes they even resemble fabulous dragons and other fantastic creatures. The flowers of many tropical orchids resemble spiders. According to the myth, a simple girl from Lydia named Arachne was such a skilled craftswoman that no one could compare with her either in spinning or weaving. Arrogantly declaring that even the gods would not surpass her in skill, Arachne challenged Athena herself to the competition. The carpet woven by the goddess was magnificent. But Arachne was not afraid of rivalry and on her carpet she depicted the love affairs of Zeus and other gods. Enraged, Athena hit the girl and tore her work. Out of grief, Arachne hanged herself. But Athena saved her and turned her into a spider. The image of the mythical foremother of all spiders can be seen in the flowers of orchids arachnis arachnis (arachnis flos-aeris) and aerantes arachnid (aeranthes arachnithes). The bizarre flowers of orchids have more than once given rise to all sorts of conjectures and fantasies. Recall at least the story of H. G. Wells about an orchid fed by careless travelers, or a film about a small flower shop of horrors. And, oddly enough, many still believe that predatory orchids live in the jungle of tropical rainforests, the flowers of which swallow if not people, then small animals and insects. In fact, orchid flowers, like the flowers of other angiosperms, are organs of reproduction, not nutrition. Their job is to attract and retain pollinators without harming them. "When I'm happy, I paint orchids; when I'm angry, I paint bamboo," said a Buddhist monk. The subtlety and sensitivity of a person was poetically compared to the thin leaves of an orchid, reacting to the slightest movement of the wind. Author: Martyanova L.M.
Orchid. Botanical description, plant history, legends and folk traditions, cultivation and use
"The view of orchids should be enjoyed in the same way as one enjoys kissing a woman or listening to poetry. Look at her with a long, attentive look. Admire the tenderness of the contours and the variety of patterns. From individual parts, go to the contemplation of the magnificent composition as a whole. Immerse yourself in the richness of tones and taste it with self-forgetfulness, with which you surrender to a good mood. Let not one of its shades slip away from you, forming a variegated range, a pool of flowers into which you would like to dive and not emerge, ”the Czech gardener Jan Satrap said about orchids. “Many types of orchids,” explains Czech writer Frantisek Flos in his book “Orchid Hunters”, grow on the trunks or branches of trees, their roots hang in the air, receiving food from it - mainly carbon dioxide; some orchids live on the roots of trees, and many grow directly from tubers in the soil." About two hundred and sixty years ago, orchids were discovered in the impregnable thickets of Central and South America, after which they became known in Europe, where the craze for these exotic flowers began. For a tuber or sprout of a rare orchid, big money was paid. Expeditions were equipped in the tropics. Many pickers died from poisonous snakes, starvation, tropical fever, and from the arrows of the native Indians. The botanists Falkenburg from Panama, Klebec from Mexico, Willis from Brazil, Digans from Ecuador died. None of the thousands of orchids harvested in the Philippine Islands made it to England. A ship carrying four thousand orchids from the banks of the Orinoco River to Europe burned down. But there were also some successes. A group of American orchid collectors who sought their fortune in the wilds of Southeast Asia near Calcutta were lucky. Returning from a long and dangerous campaign, they boasted that they had done a good business, receiving one hundred thousand dollars for a few orchids. Predatory hunting for orchids has led to the fact that many of their species have disappeared. The cost of valuable and rare plants jumped noticeably. If in 1886 the price of a rare orchid from Colombia was one hundred and fifty pounds sterling, then twenty-five years later this figure has increased tenfold. But they did not know how to grow orchids. Torn from their native places, they either died on the way, or dried up in greenhouses and greenhouses. “Buying orchids is as exciting as playing the stock market,” explained writer HG Wells. - "This is a kind of speculation. Before you is a wrinkled brown spine, and nothing more. Perhaps the plant is dying, or already dead, perhaps also, it is a precious acquisition, and such cases have happened more than once, - in front of the happy owner of a little - little by little some variety will develop, which an unusual curl of a petal or a special tenderness will turn into a treasure.On a delicate green stem, perhaps, an object of your pride will bloom, which will bring you immortality - for whose name should the newly discovered miracle of nature be perpetuated, if not the name of one who opened it?" Now the cultivation of orchids is put on a scientific basis. Many difficulties have been overcome, although the search continues for ways to make their culture quite accessible and make the capricious plant more accommodating. We can hope that the time is not far off when each of us, if desired, can not only admire the orchids in any greenhouse, but also put a bunch of flowers grown in the garden on our table. After all, nine out of ten gardeners consider the orchid flower to be the most beautiful, the most desirable, although from ancient times the glory of impregnable and capricious beauties has established itself behind them, as is often the case with owners of the rarest beauty. In mute amazement, you freeze in front of these flowers and do not know what to be surprised at: whether it is the inimitable color, the exquisite shape of the petals or the delicate aroma. In addition, nature has also awarded some flowers with a long life: they can bloom from forty to ninety days, remaining just as fresh and beautiful. There are over twenty-five thousand species of orchids According to the assurances of the German naturalist Alexander Humboldt, "an artist's lifetime is not enough to paint all the magnificent orchids." Indeed, it is difficult to depict intricate curls of petals on canvas, reminiscent of the wings of fantastic butterflies. When the famous American naturalist Luther Burbank was asked if he tried to improve orchids, Burbank looked at the questioner for a long time with surprise and answered categorically: - Improve orchids? But who can improve them? Is it possible to surpass perfection itself? Orchids love the tropical climate, but even in Eurasia there are one hundred and twenty relatives of the tropical beauty, they can be found even in the northern regions, with the exception of the coldest. It seems that quite recently a strong aroma wafted through the clearings and edges of the forest. It was the beauty of the night blooming Lyubka. Her white candles were lit everywhere. Now we do not wait for the aromas of night violets and do not hope to meet her. Lyubka became a rarity and went into the depths of the forest ... And it is strictly forbidden to pick and collect night violets. And if someday on a walk in the forest or on the edge you are lucky and you see one, two or several silvery candles in the grass - do not destroy them, stop, breathe in their aroma with forest smells. See how wonderfully these candles complement the ensemble of the glade, each blade of grass of which, each flower is full of charm, beauty and life... The flower has two rather large leaves, similar in shape to lilies of the valley. On this basis, the night violet was given the name two-leafed love. Its leaves, like palms, carefully hold a greenish-white stalk, at the end of which, as if non-melting snowflakes flutter. Consider these flowers and mentally enlarge them - and you will see in front of you a real orchid that gardeners dream about. White fragile petals form an intricate shape. Two lateral ones are like the light wings of a soaring bird. The top three are a hut: they protect the stamens and pistil hidden under them from rain and wind. The bottom petal of all orchids is called the lip. It is the brightest and largest and therefore often serves as a platform for pollinating insects. And the flower is completed by a long, gracefully curved spur. In an ingenious flower, everything is subordinated to the main thing: to leave behind offspring. A delicate aroma, intensifying in the evening, and the white color of the petals, clearly visible at dusk, attract nocturnal butterflies. For the incomparable smell, the night violet is called lyubka, which is equivalent to the words "beloved" or "beloved". They say that love drinks were prepared from tubers of night violets in ancient times, which supposedly returned young strength and tender feelings. Other names for the night violet are more related to its smell. They call her both field jasmine, and wild balsam, and night perfumes, and night beauty, and even "love me - do not leave." There are eight types of Lyubka in Russia. They grow mainly in shaded forests, glades and marshy meadows. Mikhail Prishvin wrote about the night violet: “In my instinct, our night beauty has a vicious smell, especially towards the end, when all signs of spring disappear and summer begins. She seems to know her own sin and is ashamed to smell like herself in the sunlight. But I have noticed more than once: when the beauty of the night loses its first freshness, its white color fades, becomes yellowish, then in these last days of its beauty it loses its shame and smells even in the sun. Then we can say that the spring of this year has completely passed and the way it was will never return. The well-known Russian researcher of nature was mistaken. Not fading, the night violet smells the strongest, namely in the first minutes of flowering, when in the thick night darkness it opens its white-greenish corollas. And then the incomparable smell flows so from the moonlight into the shadow, so fills the glade with aroma that the whole glade and the whole night calm down for a moment with pleasure, and then, as if coming to their senses, splash, rustle with leaves, bathing in aromatic baths. Approximately in the same places where the night violet lives, another northern orchid grows - cuckoo's tears (orchis). Relatives and bloom at the same time, and are similar to each other. Only the leaves of cuckoo's tears are wider and they are painted with a unique purple-velvet pattern, and the flowers are not white, but pinkish-lilac, but the aroma of cuckoo's tears is much inferior to the night violet.
Another type of orchid is widely known - the lady's slipper. It is so beautiful that it can indeed be dedicated to the goddess of love and beauty. Its wavy, like flying dark purple petals are light and graceful. The lip of the shoe is swollen and looks like the front of a satin slipper. Other orchids also live in the forests of the north and south, Siberia and the Far East. This is cold-resistant, found even on the border with the forest-tundra calypso with elegant lilac-pink petals and a white lip, and a bizarre orchid of the Crimean Mountains - comperia. But perhaps the most original among our orchids and one of the rarest is ofris. Passing by it, you are always surprised that an insect resembling a bee or a wasp sits on each flower. The fluffy belly, wings, and velvety antennae on the head are clearly visible. Insects, clinging to flowers, seem to drink nectar. Only after looking closely, you see that this is not an insect at all, but a cunning bait of a flower. With this decoy bee, he attracts wild bees and a special type of wasp for pollination. Each flower produces up to ten thousand small, dusty seeds. But seeds can only germinate and survive if they hit certain fungi that live in the soil. And adversity for orchids and for their companions of fungi arrives every year. More and more swamps are drained and forests are cut down, because of which the usual microclimate and the entire ecological environment of forest inhabitants are changing. How many people know that even the most "simple" of our orchids - two-leaved love - takes six to seven years from ripening seeds to the appearance of flowers? And the lady's slipper blooms only in the eighteenth year! That is why beautiful flowers, pearls of forest flora, disappear. The colors of the forest fade without them. But there is hope that they will return to our forests: thirty-nine species of domestic orchids are now listed in the Red Book, taken under the protection of the law. Many countries have developed special legislation that restricts the collection and export of orchids. Orchids are called the family of "aristocrats" among plants. For their beauty and uniqueness, many countries have chosen local orchids as their national symbols. The pinnate tall orchid is the national flower of Panama. In the center of this snow-blue flower, as it were, sits a meek dove with slightly raised wings. The Spanish monks, who first saw the peristeria in Mexico, considered its flower to be the embodiment of the holy spirit and have been using it in worship ever since. Indians still worship this flower. Catlsi species are chosen as the national flowers of Costa Rica and Venezuela, while the lycasta is the national flower of Guatemala. In tropical forests, orchids grow on trees, but do not parasitize: their roots absorb water directly from the air, but feed on the dust that settles on them. Currently, the cultivation of these plants has become one of the leading trends in floriculture in many countries. The most developed culture of orchids is in the USA, especially in California, from where the export of individual species is measured in hundreds of thousands of specimens per year. Author: Krasikov S.
Orchid. Interesting plant facts
Let's mentally fast-forward a hundred years... Burrowing up to the bowsprit into the foamy wave, the old trading brig hurries across the ocean at full sail. Once again he goes to the distant shores of South America, and again he returns with an unusual and precious cargo. The enterprising owner of the brig did not manage to get rich on the transportation of Ceylon tea and Australian wool. But the delivery of tropical orchids from the New World allowed him to acquire a solid bank account. Gardeners, flower lovers, and flower collectors in England, Holland, France, Russia, and almost all of Europe pay serious money for exotic beauties. In St. Petersburg, orchids cost 10 and 15 rubles apiece, and bouquets are valued at 200 and even 300 rubles! Well, this is the price of a thoroughbred horse! ... So it was in the last century. In its second half, the passion for orchids could only be compared with "tulip mania" - a passion for tulips in Holland in the XNUMXth century. But even now - in the last quarter of our, XX century - people do not cease to admire these amazing colors. Orchids - daughters of tropical rainforests - dress up in the brightest dresses of the most bizarre colors and shapes. Their large delicate flowers look either like fantastic butterflies, or giant golden bees, or snow-white doves, or fabulous radiant stars. In addition, some orchids are so wonderfully fragrant that in comparison with their delicate aroma, even the smell of a rose can seem rude ... But getting these truly luxurious plants is not easy, and often dangerous. They are searched for and collected by professional "orchid hunters" - brave and strong people. The most beautiful flowers can be found only in the hard-to-reach wilds of the selva. And they do not settle on the ground, like their less attractive relatives, but high, high on the trunks of large trees. With their roots, orchids are strengthened in the cracks of the bark. There accumulate dust, fragments of branches, fallen leaves. In such soil, orchids find enough nutrients for themselves. They can suck water directly from the always humid air of the selva. The forest beauties of orchids do not cause any harm to the host tree. They do not live with its juices, like parasitic plants, they are only lodgers and inhabit the forest "lofts" - the upper, better lit floors of the rainforest. So orchids, light-loving, have adapted to life in the constantly gloomy tropical forest - the selva. Author: Margolin Ya.A.
Orchid, Orchidaceae. Recipes for use in traditional medicine and cosmetology
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Orchid, Orchidaceae. Tips for growing, harvesting and storing
Orchids (Orchidaceae) are beautiful and delicate flowers that can be grown both indoors and outdoors. Tips for growing, harvesting and storing orchids: Cultivation:
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