Every Spring, Saint Louisans are gifted with an exotic assortment of orchids to view at the Missouri Botanical Gardens. This year’s theme was “Orchid Mania”, a time of increasing fascination in Orchid collection and cultivation during the Victorian Period that is referred to as the “Orchidelirium”. The Victorian Orchid Fever led to new species discovery and ignited a movement of intense study, collection and cultivation of the exquisitely beautiful and diverse flower. I hope you will enjoy this collection of images from this year’s exhibition, taken on a dark and stormy Spring morning.
Cuitlauzina egertonii, Mexico – Columbia
Dendrobium kingianum, Australia
Phalaenopsis hybrid
Tolumnia Jairak Flyer
Dendrochilum latifolium
Ansellia africana
Epidendrum Pretty Lady
Epidendrum Pacific Mandarin
Epidendrum pseudepidendrum (left), Dendrobium lindleyi (right)
Lockhartia acuta (left), Tree Moss (right)
Phalaenopsis hybrid
Dendrobium x delicatum (left), Stelis quadrifida (right)
Phalaenopsis Barbara Fuchs
Prosthechea cochleata
Cattleya Aqui-Finn
Phalaenopsis hybrid (left), Phalaenopsis Catalina (right)
Dendrobium x delicatum
Learn More About the Missouri Botanical Gardens Orchid Show:
http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/things-to-do/events/signature-events/orchid-show.aspx
Learn More About the Orchidelirium Period:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/orchidelirium-obsession-orchids-lasted-centuries-180954060/