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Sepik blue orchids in a row

Orchids

Orchids are the most cosmopolitan of flowering plant families, found everywhere on Earth except dry deserts and cold glaciers. They are thought to be one of the largest flowering plant families and contain around 25,000 species. They are most numerous in the world's tropical areas where big, showy flowers are produced, although the flowers of species found elsewhere are no less beautiful. Orchids have developed some highly specialized pollination systems, often producing attractively shaped and colourful flowers that sometimes look similar to the insects that pollinate them. Some species of orchid are now very rare.

Scientific name: Orchidaceae

Rank: Family

Common names:

Orchid family

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Distribution

The Orchids can be found in a number of locations including: Amazon Rainforest, Australia, China, Europe, Indian subcontinent, Madagascar, North America, Russia, South America, United Kingdom, Wales, Ynys-hir nature reserve. Find out more about these places and what else lives there.

Explore this group

Bee orchids Bee orchids
Bee orchids are fascinating and beautiful plants that certainly live up to their name: each flower looks like it has a female bee or wasp resting on it. These modified petals also smell like female bees, emitting enticing chemical signals.

Habitats

The following habitats are found across the Orchids distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.

Behaviours

Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.

Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web

When they lived

Discover the other animals and plants that lived during the following geological time periods.

About

The Orchidaceae are a diverse and widespread family of flowering plants with colorful and fragrant blooms, commonly known as the orchid family. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering plants, with between 21,950 and 26,049 currently accepted species, found in 880 genera. Selecting which of the two families is larger is still under debate, as concrete numbers on such enormous families are constantly in flux. Regardless, the number of orchid species equals more than twice the number of bird species, and about four times the number of mammal species. The family also encompasses about 6–11% of all seed plants. The largest genera are Bulbophyllum (2,000 species), Epidendrum (1,500 species), Dendrobium (1,400 species) and Pleurothallis (1,000 species).

The family also includes Vanilla (the genus of the vanilla plant), Orchis (type genus), and many commonly cultivated plants such as Phalaenopsis and Cattleya. Moreover, since the introduction of tropical species in the 19th century, horticulturists have produced more than 100,000 hybrids and cultivars.

Read more at Wikipedia

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BBC News about Orchids

Video collections

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  • Timelapse photography: speeding up life Timelapse photography: speeding up life

    Some of the most memorable sequences in natural history result from timelapse photography, an astonishing filming technique that opens our eyes to a whole new world.

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