"The Cayman Islands... in the UK during the... Chelsea Flower Show in London...
a replica of the Heritage Garden in the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park... the Wild Banana Orchid and the Cayman Ghost Orchid, are being auctioned off for charity... This is a debut appearance for the Cayman Islands at the Chelsea Flower Show, and it is... the first time that two of the Islands three endemic orchids have been on display in the UK. It is believed that the Ghost Orchid has never been seen on British soil before. After the show, the orchids... will be auctioned off to the highest bidder through the on-line charity auction site. Proceeds are to be split between two charities the Blue Iguana Recovery Fund, and Make-A-Wish Foundation UK, the UKs leading wish-granting charity for children and young people fighting life-threatening illnesses. Andrew Guthrie of the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park said: It is next to impossible to place a value on the orchids to a British collector as they are not commercially available; however predictions from professionals in the British horticultural industry predict that together, to a collector, they could be worth up to £50,000. Trade regulations prohibit taking wild orchids away from the Cayman Islands, so this really is the only chance for anyone in the UK with a passion for orchids to add them to their collection. To ensure the orchids ongoing welfare, the Department of Tourism will purchase membership to the Orchid Society of Great Britain for the highest bidder, and the Society has promised to throw in a free days training on orchid care. The Wild Banana Orchid (Myrmecophila thomsoniana) was chosen as the National Flower by the people of the Cayman Islands on Earth Day in 1996. Like the Ghost Orchid, it is endemic to The Cayman Islands... The orchid gets its common name from the large green or yellow banana shaped pseudobulbs... The rarer of the two plants, the Ghost Orchid (Dendrophylax fawcettii), is native only to Grand Cayman and should not be mixed up with a similarly named, more commonly known, but extremely rare, orchid that grows in Florida. The Ghost Orchid is an epiphytic plant that consists of grayish-green roots from which... creamy white flowers emerge in May and June. The orchid is devoid of leaves and when in flower, emits a... fragrance that attracts moths to pollinate in the late evenings." URL : http://www.caymannetnews.com/news-7219--1-1---.html photo : [Dendrophylax fawcettii] http://www.caymannetnews.com/news/_files/Image/1638/012.jpg **************** Regards, VB _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [email protected] http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
