"Eighty-six per cent of orchids [really ?] are pollinated by insects; others are fertilised by bats or birds...
The male crestless gardener bowerbird of New Guinea decorates the entrance to its nest with orchid blossoms. ... Charles Darwin... was ridiculed by his fellow naturalist Thomas Huxley when he correctly described how Catasetum saccatum launches its viscid pollen sac in the direction of insects... the worldwide retail business is estimated to be worth in excess of £2.5bn. The largest recorded payment for a single plant was £1,500 in 1890 equivalent to almost £100,000 today. In the Netherlands, buyers at auctions hand over £37m each year for cultivated moth orchids alone. According to a survey by the UK's Flowers and Plants Association, orchids are the most popular houseplant in the UK. ... Taiwan is the world's biggest exporter of orchids... Coca-Cola... is the world's biggest consumer of vanilla extract." URL : http://news.independent.co.uk/sci_tech/article2977388.ece ************** Regards, VB _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [email protected] http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
