PAPHIOPEDILUM LOWII, A NATIVE OF INDONESIA, MALAYSIA AND THE PHILIPPINES ORCHIDS! AMAZING Education. Conservation. Research. OLOMBIA ORCHIDS C TO NATIVE SPECIES are amazing! OUR PLANET EARTH IS SPECIAL – we FROM are lucky to have not only beautiful oceans and awesome animals, but we have a variety of plants DEVELOPED and flowers that give us food, shelter and even , medicines. HYBRID One flowering plant family is truly special. It can grow almost anyplace. It can have tiny flowers ILTONIOPSIS M you can barely see or as big as 11 inches.(1) It can - Orchid Info have one beautiful flower on its stem or hundreds Moyobamba, Peru, is called the on many stems. One variety grows as tall as 75 “City of Orchids” because there are feet(2)! Another may only be a few inches in 3,500 species growing there. height. It comes in every color of the rainbow, and some are so very dark that they almost appear (1) A Cattleya Orchid from Colombia can have flowers this large, and even the so-so black(3). It can look just like an insect, butterfly, ones are over 8-9 inches. or spider(4). Some have very strange shapes, (2) The Vanilla Orchid grows on a vine and several species resemble decomposing small that can reach this height. (3) A complex hybrid orchid called animals and even appear to be infested with “Fredclarkeara After Dark” maggots. Some smell wonderful, and others smell (4) The “Bee Orchid” is one example awful(5). It has been on the earth from the time of of an orchid that looks like an insect. Can you guess why? the dinosaurs. Some are fairly common, and some (5) A tiny bog orchid that grows only are very, very hard to find(6). in Yosemite National Park is described as smelling like sweaty feet. Can you guess MERICA A We are talking about a plant with flowers that why would a flower smell bad? - Orchid Info (6) The hard-to-find “Ghost Orchid” OUTH many people believe are the most beautiful on that grows only in deep swampy forests Orchids are grown for S OF of Florida, the Bahamas and Cuba. It is export all over the world. earth – the amazing orchid. endangered. Orchids in the United NATIVE A E EVE States are the second , S AR RYW most valuable potted ID H plant crop with over $130 H ER PLANIFOLIA C million in annual revenue. R E O ANILLA V DID YOU KNOW? • Orchids grow everywhere on the planet except in Antarctica and extreme deserts. • Orchids are the largest group of flowering plants in nature. • There are more than 25,000 species of orchids. New ones are still being discovered. • Orchids grow in almost every environment. In the wild you can find them growing on trees, on rocks, in the ground, in rainforests, grasslands, mountains, marshes and bogs. • Orchids can be found at sea level or high up in the mountains. - Orchid Info Orchids, because of their long history, variety and CREDITS beauty, are sometimes called “The Royal Family of Written by: Lynn Baden, with support Plants.” During World War II, England sent many of from the American Orchid Society their orchid plants to America for safekeeping. Edited by: Debbie Rahamim, Sun Sentinel; Ron McHatton, American Orchid Society Created by: Louise Duncan Photos: Greg Allikas, AOS Photographer Catt’s coloring page: Marion Ruff Sheehan, botanical artist Other illustrations: Elmer W. Smith, botanical artist NOTES ABOUT NIE About the Sun Sentinel News in Education program: Throughout the school year, the Sun Sentinel NIE program provides newspapers, both digital and print, to South Florida schools at no charge. Our goal has been to help teachers help their students, promote literacy, encourage hands-on learning using the newspaper, and BLC. GEORGE KING ‘SERENDIPITY’, help students stay up-to-date on the world A COMPLEX HYBRID around them. Another key focus of our DERIVED FROM SOUTH AMERICAN SPECIES program is providing curriculum materials, like Amazing Orchids!, to enhance lessons in the classroom across all subject areas. These complimentary booklets are aligned with the Sunshine State Standards. For more information about Sun Sentinel Introduction News in Education and to download The purpose of this booklet, AMAZING ORCHIDS!, is to open educational materials, visit our website at: your eyes to the wonderful world of a very unique and special www.SunSentinel.com/nie flower. On the way you will learn scientific terms, some vocabulary SUNSHINE STATE STANDARDS BENCHMARKS and geography relating to orchids, about pollination, and the Activity: Orchid Science easiest orchids for you to grow. Look at the beautiful photos, do the LA.3.6.2.1; LA.3.6.2.2; LA.3.6.2.3; LA.3.5.2.2; LA.3.3.5.3; LA.3.4.2.1 activities, research and read on your own. The American Orchid Activity: Orchid Vocabulary Society and the Sun Sentinel News in Education Department hope LA.3.6.2.1; LA.3.6.4.1 Activity: Find Out About Orchids you will become excited once you learn how interesting these LA.3.6.2.1; LA.3.6.1.1 Activity: Orchid Art beautiful plants are. People all over the world have been growing, LA.3.6.4.1; LA.3.6.4.2 appreciating, and admiring orchids for centuries. VA.A.1.2 Activity: Just for Fun SC.3.L.15.2; SC.3.L.17.1; SC.3.L.17.2 We also want you to think about the bigger picture: how orchids SC.4.L..17.4; SC.L.17.1; SC.4.L.16.4 SC.5.L.17.1; SC.5.L.15.1 fit into nature and the world around us, along with all the plants Activity: What’s the Difference? LA.3.L.2.1; LA.3.6.2.2; LA.3.6.2.3; LA.3.4.2.1 on the planet. Even as we write this material, orchid habitat is VA.B.1.2; VA.A.1.2 disappearing, and some varieties that haven’t been discovered may Activity: Where’s the Vanilla? MA.3.A.6.; MA.4.A.6.1; MA.5.A.6.5 never be. You can help by learning all you can, growing your own SS.3.G.1.1; SS.3.G.1.2; SS.3.G.1.6 gardens, creating plant and animal habitats, and preserving others. SS.4.G.1.4 SS.5.G.1.2; SS.5.G.1.6 Orchids are every The importance size and color of pollination n Look at the pictures throughout this booklet. They represent just a tiny portion of the thousands of orchids found around the world. Let’s talk for a moment about pollination. Plants must have a way to reproduce, or they would die DID YOU KNOW? out. Orchids, like most seed-bearing plants, do this o - The smallest orchid has flowers only half a millimeter or one- mainly by a process called “pollination.” hundredth of an inch in diameter! The entire plant is only about a quarter of an inch tall. It grows naturally in the cloud forests In regular plants, the pollen is a fine, powder-like in Central America, principally in Costa Rica. You would need a material that contains the male reproductive cells. magnifying glass to see the flowers! This dust-like pollen can be blown from flower to - The largest orchid plant grows canes that can be more than 25 flower by the wind or carried by insects. feet long. There are reports of mature plants weighing up to 2,000 pounds and said to produce up to 10,000 flowers. The species ORCHID TY: VOC Orchid plants have unique pollen. It isn’t dust-like. is found in Malaysia, the Solomon Islands, Sumatra, the VI A TI BU It is carried in small packets called “pollinia” that Philippines, Papua and New Guinea. It is called the C L A A cannot be blown by the wind. Orchids depend on “Tiger Orchid” or “Sugar Cane Orchid.” Unfortunately, In addition to the three R Y insects and birds to move their pollen from one old plants this large probably no longer exist in the types of orchids, here are some flower to another. The pollen packets are attached wild due to habitat destruction. others terms relating to orchids you to a sticky surface that is used to glue the pollen DENDROBIUM FARMERI, A NATIVE OF THAILAND should know. Use a dictionary or go packet to the pollinator’s body. Look at the diagram online to find out what they mean: of an orchid to see the parts that are involved in this process. - Orchid Info pseudobulb • perennial • rhizome Orchids are often mistakenly described as parasites because corm • tuber • aerial roots • keiki Pollen from regular plants is distributed in various they are found living in trees sheath • column • anther cap ways. It can be blown by the wind, carried in rain or on and around rocks. A true drops or water, or by insects, birds, and small parasite grows and uses its mammals like bats and rodents. The dust-like “host” for some purpose, such pollen sticks to the creature’s body as it moves as food or water, but they give from one flower to another. These carriers are nothing in return. Orchids may live in trees and rocks, but they called “pollinators”. If the pollen is moved from don’t use them for any purpose one plant to a different plant it is called “cross- other than a place to anchor pollination.” If the pollen is transferred within the their roots.