Orchids
Peter McKenzie Black
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PREFACE
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The worldwide family Orchidaceae contains almost one seventh of all flowering plants. Its huge numbers - nearly 1,000 genera and 20,000 species - are matched by an enormous diversity in size, colour, shape and habitat. There are species which would fit comfortably inside a thimble and others which can climb to the top of a tree 100 feet tall; some have flowers the size of pinheads while others have petals two feet long. They can be found at heights of 14,000 feet, in tropical jungles and in almost arctic tundra; in semi-desert, swampy marshes and grassy meadows; high up on trees and on the ground - and even beneath its surface.
Peter Black has described the history of orchid growing from its origins in early Chinese, Japanese and Greek cultures to the advent of hybridization in the middle of the nineteenth century.
Peter Black has described the history of orchid growing from its origins in early Chinese, Japanese and Greek cultures to the advent of hybridization in the middle of the nineteenth century.