White Orchids Description

Identification

• Orchids come in every color except blue. White orchids are often used in wedding bouquets and other wedding adornments because of the hope and purity they symbolize. According to the American Orchid Society, the gorgeous white Dendobium fytchianum was discovered by a Captain Grant and Colonel Fytche in Burma in 1863. The two men were on an "orchid safari." They had noticed the beautiful white orchids that the Burmese girls wore in their hair. They found the plant in the wild. The D. fytchianum has clear, white sepals and petals, two small lateral lobes that are deep rose in color, a middle lobe that is pure white and a yellow bristle-like hairs in the center.

Symbolism

• The orchid is the symbol of the sophisticated love or pure affection and is considered an ideal gift for Mother's Day. It suggests satisfaction, respect, moral purity, innocence and perfection. Orchids (Orchidaceae), which are the most favored houseplant in Britain, are the largest family of the plant kingdom. There are more than 25,000 species of orchid.

Origin

• The Ancient Greeks knew of the Mediterranean orchids, but they were not commercially significant. The Vanilla planifolia was reportedly used by the Aztecs as a source of vanilla flavoring. After Spain conquered Mexico, inhabitants of Europe became aware of this exquisite flower and they wanted the vanilla flavoring.

Difference

• Orchids are different from other flowering plants because they package their pollen in small, waxy bundles. These bundles are called pollinia. Insects come to the orchids and collect the pollen and then carry the pollen from orchid to orchid. No pollen grains are lost.

The Coveted Flower

• According to Herbs2000.com, in the 1770s epiphytic orchids were transported from China and the West Indies to Great Britain. Before the 1800s rolled around, 15 species or orchids were growing at the Royal Botanic Gardens of Kew. However, the British were not having great success growing these flowers because they were grown in damp, hot greenhouses and had little, if any, air.

The Flower for the Elite

• In the 1880s, it was fashionable for rich people to establish large greenhouses on their estates, where they would attempt to grow orchids, among other flowers. Most of the orchids sent to the United States from Great Britain, did not fare well in these "stove house" structures, although other tropical plants did okay, according to Herbs2000.com. Eventually, the growers realized this, and the orchids were removed from the stove houses and were given more air, less heat, more light and a rich growing medium. At last they began to grow and even flourish. That is when the passion in orchid growing really accelerated in the United States.

Uses

• The white Dendrobium orchid has butterfly-shaped blooms. This orchid creates a beautiful display and would be appropriate in an arrangement as an expression of sympathy or admiration or as a business gift.