| Actual Image
The world within (40)
johnfreeman
![Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 326 W: 35 N: 399]](http://i1.trekearth.com/misc/g-s-g.gif) (1973) | Orchids have fascinated people since the beginning of time. For centuries they have served as symbols of love, beauty and luxury. They have been regarded as aphrodisiacs and were even one of the main ingredients in love potions. Greeks believed they were a symbol of virility. Orchids were called “The plant of the King's Fragrance” by the Chinese as long ago as the time of Confucius. Orchids played a role as herbal remedies in the middle ages. At the beginning of the 18th century, collecting orchids was a practice in many parts of the world. Their attractive rare blooms and fragrances kept people interested in collecting and discovering these beautiful plants. A few orchids had been imported from remote lands by British sea captains. Botanists and wealthy society were enticed by and curious about orchids. In 1818, William Cattley became the first person to bloom an orchid. The orchid craze incited the mining of forests for orchids. An English botanist wrote in 1878, “Not satisfied with taking 300 or 500 specimens of a fine orchid, they must scour the whole country and leave nothing for miles. This is no longer collecting; this is wanton robbery.”
I took this photo of a Phalaenopsis aphrodite orchid (native to Southeast Taiwan and the Philippines) using a Nikkor Micro 200 mm lens with extension tubes. The detail visible in the picture is about 3 cm across. It was backlit to bring out the sense of translucency and I used a small amount of fill-flash to lighten details of the flower.
The main visible strucure is the "labellum" or lip, a modified petal which serves to attract insects and acts as a landing stage.
The generic name Phalaenopsis means “Phalaen[a]-like” and is probably a reference to the genus Phalaena, the name given by Carolus Linnaeus to a group of large moths; the flowers of some species supposedly resemble moths in flight. For this reason, the species are sometimes called Moth orchids. |
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