In this article I’ve come up with a list of fun facts about orchid plants that you might not have known!

Fun Facts About Orchid Plants

• The name Orchid comes from the Greek word “orchis” meaning testicle; because of the shape of the bulbous roots.
• Orchids plants are the largest family of the plant kingdom with over 25,000 naturally occurring species in the world, as well as all the specially-developed hybrids!
• Most houseplant orchids are either Phalaenopsis (fa-le-NOP-sis) (moth orchid), dendrobium, vanda, paphiopedilum (paff-eeo-PEDDY-lum) (slipper orchid) or cymbidium (sim-BIDDY-um).
• Orchids can last 2 or 3 weeks cut and over a month on the plant.
• Orchid flowers can grow to be as small as a head of a pin (Platystele sp. Central America) or greater at 10 feet (Grammatophyllum sp., New Guinea).
• The orchid plant is currently the most popular houseplant in the UK according to F&PA surveys (Tying with peace lily).
• The spice that we use in our homes, Vanilla comes from the fruit of an orchid; Vanilla planifolia.
• Confucius acknowledged orchids saying, “the association with a superior person is like entering a hall of orchids“.
• In 1595 a Chinese flower-arranging book “A Treatise of Vase Flowers” by Chang Ch’ien -te said orchids were in the top ranking of desirability.