THE GLAMOUR OF ORCHIDS

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 24, 29 January 1938, Page 27

THE GLAMOUR OF ORCHIDS

Orchids—the very name conjures up a picture of exotic mystery,'writes A. A. Mcßean in the "Daily Mail.' Orchids—strange, magical flowers '. of enchantment that carry a hint of wickedness in their painted waxen petals. Orchids—that are for ever associated with shining silks and brocade's,' with alabaster shoulders, with :low lights j and soft musicr :.; Wherein is. their' allure? For ,the orchid, is to, other flowers, what chinchilla is to furs,, what Oriental pearls are to other jewels: I cannot tell you why orchids are' exciting where other flowers are merely beautiful, But it is a question worth pondering: Personally, 1 think the orchid : has gained its reputation largely because it is the perfect.ornament-for a beautiful ' wornah-^whether she blonde or. brunette its matters, no, though in our imagination perhaps .we' have come to associate orchids more with blondes. ' In a i.Htural state, many of the most lovely specimens ar.e what are called epiphytes—in other words, they support themselves by twining round the limb of a tree in the jungle. Minute hairs on the root cling to a crevice, and the-.plant extracts', vnpurish.ment from, the moist and steamy atmosphere Thus when a spray of orchids ,is worn on a woman's shoulder, it reproduces almost exactly its growing position in" nature. The glowing • flowers seem to have settled there like a .swarm of brilliant tropical butterflies. There are innumerable varieties of orchids, arid they are found almost everywhere in the world; ?; All the most beautiful, however, .come, origi-, nally from the tropicsr^from the.

[swamps of Brazil, the jungles of New Guinea, the steamy valleys of Guatemala—though even here in Britain we have our rare, native orchid, Cypripedium calceolus, or the Lady's-slip-.per. . ~ The orchid has always been the pampered ■ pet of the aristocracy. When it was first grown in this country people thought they would have to build greenhouses tall enough to accommodate a ..'epical- tree, on which the orchid could twine as in its native haunts., ■ '; The days of fantastic prices, of rich, enthusiasts equipping expeditions to hunt for rare varieties, are over for the most part. The mid-nineteenth century was the hey-day of orchid discovery and a time of reckless bidding for a few shrivelled rook at auctions Among the ibest known of orchid enthusiasts may te mentioned Mr. Lionel -de Rothschild, Baron" Schroeder, and Sir Jeremiah -olrnan. The last-named once, with the late tir Trevor Lawrence, sent out a collector to find a beautiful orchid known as Cattleya aurea. Those the collector gathered in riower were lost in a shipwreck;: so he went back and se-.j cured more when the piant was out of flower. Of Sir Jeremiah's share 't was found that not one was a Cattleya aurea! Whitt varieties of Cattleya labiat'a once fetched £300 a plant; an orchid called Odontoglossum enspum Pittianum was valued.at £3000, and a portion of ii was bought at auction for 1150 guineas. Even today as much as £200 is sometimes paid for a single "mother" plant. Single blooms can be bought for from sixpence to ten shillings.