Commercial Floriculture

Floral biology

• The three inner floral segments are very irregular called the petals.
• One of them termed the lip or labellum is typically very much modified and enlarged.
• It is often the most prominent and distinctive part of the flower.
• In the bud, the lip is the uppermost petal
• It becomes the lower most one through a remarkable twisting of pedicellate ovary, a process known as resupination.
• The column is the reproductive part of the orchid blossom.
• Stamens are untied to the styles and stigma forming a column.
• The orchid flowers are irregular extremely variable in size and shape with sparkling texture, they may be solitary or in spike emitting the fragrance of lemon cloves or fresh lavender oil. A few are, however highly malodorous.

  

^Top
• The flower as its parts in threes sepals and three petals (collectively called as tepals due to their resemblances in texture and color)
• Similar to each other and sub-similar to sepals. It is, however, the third petals, which is different and distinctive and is called lebellum or the lip.
• The lip that highly polymorphous is responsible orchid, ladies sleeper orchid.
• The reproductive organs of the orchids, the stamens and the pistil are condensed and form a consolidated complex body, the coloumn (Gynostemium),
• The male and female part being separated by a flap or projection of a tissue, called restellum.
• Orchids are cross-pollinated by insects, birds, etc. and to achieve this they have adopted many contrivances like mimicry and twisting of the flower on its stalk to almost 180o to face its pollinating agent (Resupination).
• A Mediterranean orchid ‘Ophyrus’ shows a fine example of mimicry. It resembles a female wasp to the death of all parts.
• Long stemmed monopodials such as species of Vanda, Angraecum, Renanthera and Aerides are perhaps among the most difficult to divide. Only older healthy plants that have developed aerial roots 20cm or more from their bases should be dealt with by cutting them into pieces below each root.
• The severed piece, along with its roots, forms a new plant and the original plant, rid of most of its aerial roots, soon develops more roots and will flower probably within three years.

^Top