Orchid Show at St.Louis Botanical Garden

 

We attended the orchid exhibit one day before the show would end for this year. The crowds were heavy and we needed to wait in line for about thirty minutes- but it was worth it! I snapped photos of so many of those blooming beauties!. About 70% of them are tropical epiphytes growing on other plants in tropical rain forests. Species pictured below is called Meadow Gold. The gardens provided informative signs with the orchids displayed.

 

I also learned, from the information provided, that orchids can be found in different shapes and colors, also fragrances. Individual species attract their favorite pollinators with varying particular features. The orchid pictured above had an awesome peach smell. Pictured below is another different type of orchid.

After walking through the orchid exhibit (which was located in the new visitor's center, by the way),  we walked over to the Linnean House. This building, a favorite of mine during the winter months, houses such warm season plants as begonias, citrus, and camellias. There was one blooming orange tree when we entered the building, and its blossoms gave off a wonderful smell which permeated the whole room of plants! According to the garden information provided in this area, "South and east Asia is home to an immense floral diversity due to a subtropical climate, many mountain ranges, and     numerous archipelagos". Unfortunately, rapid population growth and habitat loss in this region is endangering many plants and their ecosystems. There is a big need for conservation efforts.

There were not many blooming Camellias in the Linnean House- they are suppose to bloom from late December to early April. I also learned that there is only one species of Camellia that gives off a wonderful fragrance. The one pictured about was hanging over a sign providing information about tea. Tea, of the Theaceae family, belongs to the genus Camellia. Most of that species can be found in China. One-third of the 250 species in the tea family are being threatened for the same reasons I mentioned above, in regards to all tropical plants.

I am concluding this blog with an ugly plant which we noticed in the Linnean House. Leave it to John to find it! It is a welwitschia plant, which grows only two leathery appearing leaves shaped like straps in its entire lifetime of about 1,500 years. The leaves curl up at its base as it grows, and the plant never sheds its original leaves. So come on out to the Botanical Gardens in St.Louis- you never know what you may see or discover!