Orchids at the Cambridge Botanic Garden

What did we (Tamara and I) learn?

That there are over 25,000 species

That most tropical species connect to a host plant or tree with roots that hang free, taking up water from the air and nutrients from the host.

That orchid seeds do not have an inbuilt food source, and so have to find a fungus to attach to in order to grow.

That orchid seeds can be tiny, minute – the smallest of all seeds.

That some orchids live and flower underground.

That the word orchid derives from the Greek word orkhis, meaning testicle.

John Stevens Henslow
1796-1861
Professor, Churchman, Botanist and Geologist
Innovator in universal education
A guiding light for his student
Charles Darwin.
He created this Botanic Garden