Jessica Blohm is Interpretive Specialist for Public Education.
Orchids are one of the largest genera of flowering plants, with about 30,000 species worldwide. Orchids vary widely in their appearance. Many have stunningly beautiful flowers with stripes and spots, while others are almost ugly with hairs and even warty bumps. What do all these striking flowers have in common?
In describing a plant genus so vast and so diverse, it is almost safe to say that there are no rules. However, botanists generally agree that one feature above all others defines the orchid and differentiates it from virtually all other flowering plants: the fusion of the male portion of the flower (stamen) and female portion (pistil) into one structure called the column—often visible protruding from the center.
Look for these orchid parts on the more than 7,000 orchids in The Orchid Show: Cuba in Flower. (Click on the image to view it larger.)
Sepal—one of the three outer parts of an orchid flower that protects the petals Pollinia—a solid mass of pollen found in the anther Column—the fused sexual organ of an orchid flower Petal—the three petals on an orchid are the true flower; one is modified into a lip Lip (or Labellum)—a specialized petal, unique to orchids Ovary—the part of the flower that develops into the fruit Ovule—a small protuberance in the ovary, capable of forming a seed when fertilized Stigma—the sticky area of the pistil that receives the pollen
Join exceptional English gardener and best-selling author Anna Pavord (The Tulip and The Naming of Names: The Search for Order in the World of Plants) at the Garden on Thursday, March 18, for a delightful presentation of her new book, Bulb. Intended as a reference for gardeners, the book guides readers through nearly 600 bulbs—from Acis to Zigadenus—showcasing each plant through stunning photographs.
Pavord’s presentation, A Luxuriance of Bulbs, will be followed by a reception and booksigning, and then by a viewing of The Orchid Show: Cuba in Flower. This is her only scheduled New York City appearance on her international book tour.
For details and to purchase your tickets, click here.
Brian M. Boom, Ph.D., is Director, Caribbean Biodiversity Program, and Melissa Tulig, is Associate Director of the Herbarium at The New York Botanical Garden.
The Orchid Show: Cuba in Flower in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory provides an excellent occasion to draw attention to the Botanical Garden’s long history of plant exploration in Cuba and the Garden’s current scientific activities on the largest and most biologically diverse island in the Caribbean.
Beginning in 1903 and as recently as October 2009, the Garden has collaborated with Cuban botanists and institutions in documenting and studying the Cuban flora, collecting more than 20,000 specimens on 23 expeditions. The Garden’s research in Cuba is active and ongoing.
(The black-and-white photo above from the Mertz Library Archives is from an expedition to the Isle of Pines in Cuba led by the Garden’s founder Nathaniel Lord Britton in 1916. The photo below, by Garden scientist Fabián A. Michelangeli, Ph.D., is from the most current expedition and shows Garden scientist Wayt Thomas, Ph.D., at left, with his Cuban student Waldo Bonet collecting sedges.)
One good way to tell this story of more than a century of plant exploration in Cuba is through the more than 12,500 digitized specimen records currently available via the Garden’s C.V. Starr Virtual Herbarium. Some newly created Web features allow easy access to these data, and we recommend trying the following to explore the Garden’s history in Cuba and some of the plant diversity on the island as told by the specimens.
Grow at the Garden Through Adult Education Courses
Pursue your passion for plants and gardening or get started on a new career this spring. Come to Saturday’s Open House to discover how you can grow at the Garden through Adult Education courses.Meet program coordinators, instructors, and graduates; tour the facilities; and enjoy free mini-classes and demonstrations in Botanical Art and Illustration, Botany, Floral Design, Gardening, Horticulture, Horticultural Therapy, and Landscape Design.
From one-day workshops to multiple-session daytime, evening, and weekend classes, the Garden’s expert staff can help you choose the best options to suit your schedule.
Also learn from former students how the Garden’s Adult Education program can help put you on a new career path.
For more information about the Open House on March 13, call 800.322.NYBG (6924).
Jessica Blohm is Interpretive Specialist for Public Education.
Christopher Columbus first landed in Cuba in 1492, leading the way to the country’s being settled in 1511 by the Spanish, who quickly discovered how well suited the land was for growing sugarcane. The plant, which is from the South Pacific island of New Guinea and thrives only in tropical areas, had been introduced to the New World by Columbus during his second voyage (1493–96).
European colonial powers established huge slave-based sugar plantations throughout Cuba and the Caribbean. The cane sugar industry became Cuba’s economic mainstay of the 17th and 18th centuries.
But by the 20th century, the popularity of sugarcane gave way to an alternative source of sugar—the sugar beet, which could be grown in Europe and other temperate regions. This new sweetheart crop plant, coupled with the abolition of slavery in 1886, resulted in the closing of numerous sugar mills throughout Cuba and the Caribbean. Ruins dotted these lands, many of which have since been reclaimed by native forest.
Jorge Sánchez, president and co-founder of the landscape architecture firm Sánchez & Maddux in Palm Beach, Florida, designed this year’s Orchid Show.
For Sánchez & Maddux to be awarded the opportunity to design The Orchid Show: Cuba in Flower was, indeed, a feather in our cap. The fact that the show is centered on Cuba made it very personal for me, for it is where I was born and grew up until the ripe old age of 11½.
I’ve often said we are all born with a talent. The key is realizing that talent. I don’t mean that one has to be the best in the world at whatever it may be, but that one has a gift for something. For me that gift is designing landscapes. I have enjoyed plants, history, and architecture as far back as I can remember, and my field of work encompasses all of these things. This has also given me a very good visual memory. And so here I take you back to my childhood and the influences of my native Cuba that have helped to shape elements of this year’s Orchid Show.
I must have been 10 years old when my two maternal uncles purchased a ranch in the province of Pinar del Rio, about 55 miles from Havana, where we lived. One day, while staying with one of my grandmothers (which my siblings and I did whenever my parents were away traveling) we went for a picnic at the ranch, Las Maravillas de Roja, rather a long name for a ranch.
Prepare for Gardening Season with this Special All-Day Program
Carol Capobianco is Editorial Content Manager at The New York Botanical Garden.
It may not feel like it, but spring begins this month. Gardeners—me included—are chomping at the bit for it to get under way and for that telltale whiff in the air. (You know, that certain smell that stops you as you step outdoors one day in late winter and puts a smile on your face.)
Of course, there is always enough garden-related chores to do indoors before the warmer weather arrives, and sometimes spring comes too soon for my own good. I still haven’t mended my favorite gardening pants or switched my gardening paraphernalia into the larger tool bag I bought last fall or ordered a new pair of gardening shoes to replace the ones with worn-out soles or thought enough about my plant wish list.
But, still, I’m ready for the sun and soil, and I’m sure you are, too. So come to Spring Fever Saturdayon March 6 to be with kindred spirits who want to spend the day learning how to fine tune their soil, select early blooming trees and shrubs, prune woody plants, and other such tasks to prepare their gardens and lawns for that special time of year called spring.
For more information about each of the sessions offered—participants may select as many as three from six topics—or to register, click here or call 718.817.8747.
Jessica Blohm is Interpretive Specialist for Public Education.
Cuba is home to more than 300 species of orchids, some native only to Cuba. In The Orchid Show: Cuba in Flower, one of the replicas on display is the Soroa Orchidarium, a botanical garden dedicated to education and the cultivation and conservation of the world’s orchids.
The groves of Cuban royal palms (Roystonea regia) on either side of the Orchidarium are meant to evoke the hills of Sierra del Rosario, a biosphere reserve of over 65,000 acres within which the Orchidarium is nestled. The Orchidarium features thousands of tropical plants and flowers from around the world, including 700 species of orchids from Asia, South America, and other tropical regions, many no longer found in the wild.
Beautiful Blooms, Old Havana, Cuban Countryside Featured
Laura Collier is Marketing Associate at The New York Botanical Garden.
Garden staff have been working in overdrive for weeks, filling the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory with thousands of brilliant orchids and tropical plants in preparation for the 8th annual Orchid Show.
I’ve been craning my neck during every visit to the Conservatory to get a glimpse of the show being set up. Fortunately, Rustin Dwyer, our expert staff videographer, has been behind the scenes catching all the action. He’s been working with Karen Daubmann, Director of Exhibitions, to document the details that go into the making of The Orchid Show: Cuba in Flower.
Check out the most up-to-date installment as well as all the videos building up to the opening in the box below. The show starts tomorrow, Saturday, February 27. I’ll be stopping in to see all the beautiful blooms, which are displayed this year in vignettes from Old Havana and the Cuban countryside.
Lisa Vargues is Curatorial Assistant of the Herbarium.
Adjacent to The New York Botanical Garden’s Library building stands a 70,000 square-foot treasure chest: the William and Lynda Steere Herbarium. This “library” of over 7.3 million preserved and filed plant specimens is the largest in the Western Hemisphere and considered a crown jewel in the world of botanical research. Roughly 35,000–40,000 specimens arrive here annually from around the world, through gifts, exchanges, and staff collections, and are preserved through a careful process that has not changed for centuries.
A plant’s journey from field to filing cabinet is often a fascinating one. Botanists, including Garden Science staff, travel the globe searching for new and interesting species often in remote regions and using a variety of means of access—sometimes dugout canoes, helicopters, or helium-filled balloons. The journey can be brief yet momentous, such as when a desirable plant springs up near the Garden’s gates or by a New York City parking lot.
Orchids are one of the largest genera of flowering plants, with about 30,000 species worldwide. Orchids vary widely in their appearance. Many have stunningly beautiful flowers with stripes and spots, while others are almost ugly with hairs and even warty bumps. What do all these striking flowers have in common?
