By www.PhotoByVivian.com

Perhaps the largest, most diverse and most showy of all flowering plants is the orchid.  There are over 25,000 different types of accepted species of orchids and horticulturists have produced more than 100,000 hybrids such as the Cymbidium and Phalaenopsis. The Smithsonian Gardens in Maryland boast an orchid collection of more than 8,000 specimens. The orchid has evolved over the past 80 million years and adapted to almost every part of the planet from rain forests, to deserts, to forests, to mountains, to the most remote islands. Charles Darwin was fascinated by orchids and their sex lives. Yes, their sex lives!
The name orchid actually comes from the Greek word for testicle, which refers to the plants bulbs. Darwin studied the orchids ability to reproduce, colonize six continents and live in almost any environment and wrote The Origin of Species followed by more volumes on the amazing plants. Darwin identified floral structures “as perfect as the most beautiful adaptations in the animal kingdom.” Although the orchid has adapted so well, many are quite rare.  Oddly, their small numbers are part of what ensures their survival.