Russian born painter Vladimir Tretchikoff was so enchanted by the exquisite beauty of the orchid flower lying on the stairs on the day he was freed from an Indonesian war camp that he was inspired to paint the Lost Orchid. It was possibly a corsage as it had a pin through it. At that time orchid plants were only owned by the wealthy and it was considered a great extravagance to be given an orchid flower which then was 10 times more costly than a rose.
Knowledge of how natural and anthropogenic factors can limit the distribution of rare species is key to develop conservation strategies. We show data on how both factors potentially affect the distribution of a rare high Andean orchid. We chose Masdevallia coccinea as a model because it is endangered and the most commercialized species of the entire genus. Using ecological niche modeling, we confirm its rarity, with a restricted potential occurrence equivalent to only 0.00005 % of South America, 0.0003 % of the Andes, and 0.0009 % of Colombia. We projected the future potential occurrence of M. coccinea and found that it can have a reduction of 43.49 % in the best-case scenario and 89.06 % in the worst-case scenario in 2100. We describe the flowering and fruiting phenologies and demonstrate that the precipitation two months before may determine the first one. Masdevallia coccinea is a rewardless species and, unlike most Pleurothallidinae species, we show that it is self-compatible but n
Russian born painter Vladimir Tretchikoff was so enchanted by the exquisite beauty of the orchid flower lying on the stairs on the day he was freed from an Indonesian war camp that he was inspired to paint the Lost Orchid. It was possibly a corsage as it had a pin through it. At that time orchid plants were only owned by the wealthy and it was considered a great extravagance to be given an orchid flower which then was 10 times more costly than a rose.
Many of us aren’t aware that the orchid family Orchidaceae has 25,000 species and is the biggest plant family in the world with the daisy family coming a close second. Of these, 500 species are native to SA. There are so many forms of the orchid that some of us have unknowingly stepped on little sky blue orchids popping up in the grass or passed under those growing overhead attached to the barks or clefts of trees.