3. ORCHID FAMILY
• SYSTEMATIC POSITION
Kingdom Plantae
Phylum Magnoliophyta
Class Liliopsida
Family Orchidaceae
4. CHARACTERS OF
ORCHIDACEAE
• Perennial herbs, epiphytes or saprophytes may be
terrestrial;
• flowers zygomorphic, hermaphrodite, epigynous;
• perianth 6 in two whorls, the posterior segment of
the inner whorl developed as lip or labellum;
• presence of peculiar structures – Labium, column
and Rostellum;
• Stamens 1-2, one or two staminode pollengrains
united into pollinia;
5. • gynoecium tricarpellary, inferior unilocular with
parietal placentation; the fertile stamen is adherent
to the style and forms with it the column or
gynandrium, which projects more or less in the
centre of flower; Stigma 2 or 3 lobed, in some two
fertile and one sterile and modified into rostellum
6. SIZE,DISTRIBUTION & GENERAL
INFORMATION
• Orchidaceae is one of the largest family of the
flowering plants, represented by about 1000
genera and 20,000 species which are
cosmopolitan but primarily distributed in tropical
areas.
• Its members are rare in arctic regions.
• In Indian and Pakistan flora it is the second
largest family represented by about 130 genera
and 800 species, distributed mainly in eastern
Himalayas, Western Ghats and Khaki hills.
7. SIZE,DISTRIBUTION & GENERAL
INFORMATION
• This is the family of greatest variety of flowers
among flowering plants. Orchids flowers are
known for their strange shape, longevity and
beautiful look. Some of the largely
represented genera along with the number of
their approximately reported species are
Dendrobium (1500), Habenaria (600),
Vanda (60), etc…..
8.
9. Orchids can be divided into four
types according to growing
condition
• Epiphytic orchids ;The Orchids that grow on
trees are called epiphytes. They are air plants
gaining nourishment from debris that collects
on the tree bark and moisture from the air.
They are not parasites and they have
thickened leaves and stem to store water.
• Terrestrial Orchids grow on the ground. Their
roots are always moist, humid or wet.
10. Orchids can be divided into four
types according to growing condition
• Lithophytes - The rock growers, cling to the
surfaces of rocks.
• . Saprophytes- Those that grow in mulch,
often on the forest floor
11. Orchid can be divided into two basic
growth types
• Monopodial (one footed) have a main stem
which counties to grow year after. (Eg.
Phalaenopsis, Renonthera, Vanda, etc.)
• Sympodial (many footed) The Plant produces
a series of adjacement shoots which grow to a
certain size, bloom, then stop growing to be
replaced by the next growth. (Eg. Cattleya,
Cymbidium)
14. DISCRIPTION OF THE FAMILY
• VEGETATIVE CHARACTERS
GENERAL HABIT
Perennial herbs; either terrestrial (Orchids),
epiphytic(Cattleya) or saprophytic(Neottia);
Orchids in temprate region are mainly terrestrial
while those in tropical regions are mainly
epiphytic; sometime climbers (bulbophyllum,
Vanilla;….
20. VEGETATIVE CHARACTERS
• LEAF
• Simple, alternate, rarely opposite; sometime
rudueced to achlorophylous scales as in
saprophytic species .
• Usually fleshy and linear to ovate in shape,
often encircling the stem ; foliage leave absent
in some species of Dendrophylax; only a single
leaf per shoot is present in Pleurothallis.
23. floral CHARACTERS
• Flower:
• Flowers are of variable and peculiar, shape,
size and colour, often showy, bracteate,
zygororphic, bisexual or rarely unisexual,
eipgynous, trimerous, mostly resupinate i.e.
twisted to 180° or upside down.
27. floral CHARACTERS
• Perianth:
• Tepals 6, in two whorls of each, outer 3 tapals
(representing calyx); inner 3 tepals coloured
(representing corolla), dissimilar-the 2 lateral or
wings like, the third posterior tepals is lightly
modified often projected basally the labellum or
lip; broad, shoe-like spursed, tubular, butterfly
shaped or variously branched and contributing
most of the beauty of the flower.
28. floral CHARACTERS
• The labellum is actually posterior it comes to
lie on the anterior side of the flower due to
twisting (or resupinationl) of the inferior ovary
through 180°.
30. floral CHARACTERS
• ANDROECIUM
• Represented by 2 fused lateral stamens or 1
terminal stamen, anther dithecous, introse;
pollen grain granular or bound together by viscin
theards into masses called POLLINIA .
• Stigma style and stamens are adnate to form a
single , highly complex structure called column
or gynandrium (which represents the most
characteristics part of the orchids flower)
31. floral CHARACTERS
• In several orchids(Zeuxine) a pair of pollinia
remain connected to the glandula or
corpusculum with the help of a stalk called
caudicle.
• A connection between the ovary and stamen
is made by ROSTELLUM. Sometimes
staminodes are also present.
35. floral CHARACTERS
• GYNOECIUM
• Tricarpellary, syncarpous, ovary inferior,
unilocular, parietal placentation, rarely trilocular
and axile placentation (Apostasia); stigmas 3, of
which 2 lateral are often fertile, the third stigma
is sterile forming a small beaked outgrowth – the
rostellum lying in the centre of column between
the anther and fertile stigma. In Cypripedium and
Paphiopedium, all the 3 stigmas are functional.
38. floral CHARACTERs
• FRUITS AND SEEDS
• Fruit usually a capsule, containing a very large
number of very small, non endospermic seed
which are distributed easily by wind.
39. floral CHARACTERs
• POLLINATION
• Flowers of Orchidaceae are well adopted for
insect pollination because of several characters,
such as large size, pleasant smell, and presence of
nectar secreted in nectary or sac like rotellum .
• When an insect enters the flower the pollina get
attached to its body by their caudicles.
• When this insect visits another flower, it may
deposit the pollen grains on its stigmatic surface
below the rostellum thus completing the process
of pollination.
41. 1. Food:
• During scarcity the tuberous roots of Habenaria
susannae and Orchis latifolia are used as food.
2. Flavor:
• The capsules of Vanilla planifolia V. fragrans yield
commercial ‘Vanilla’ a flavouring agent for
chocolate and confectionary.
3. Medicine:
• The root-stocks of Eulophia epidendraeas are
used as vermifage.
ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF ORCHIDACEAC
42. ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF Orchidaceac
• 4. Dye:
• The leaves of Calanthe veratrifolia contain a
glycoside ‘indican’, which on hydrolysis yields
‘indigo blue’.
• 5. Ornamentals:
• Many orchids are cultivated in the green houses
for their beautiful sweet-scented flowers of
various forms, shapes with highly attractive
labellum of various hues and bright colours. The
orchid flowers are in great demand and are much
more sought after than any other flowers.
43. Primitive characters
1. Plants are perennial by means of pseudobulbs
or root-tubers.
• 2. Leaves simple.
• 3. Presence of large, coloured and scented
flowers.
• 4. Flowers solitary, terminal and bisexual.
• 5. Parietal placentation.
• 6. Entomophilous pollination.
• 7. Ovules numerous.
44. ADVANCE CHARACTERS
• 1. It is an immense family of 20000 species.
• 2. Plants only herbs that are widely distributed and
successfully invaded in various situations.
Cosmopolitan all over the globe.
• 3. Leaves exstipulate.
• 4. Adventitious roots-variously modified.
• 5. Flowers of diverse shape, size and colour, small and
incospicuous.
• 6. Flowers zygomorphic due to labellum, which is
variously modified.
• 7. Epigynous flowers.
45. ADVANCE CHARACTERS
• 8. Reduction in number of stamens to two or one.
• 9. Adhesion of stamens with style and stigma to form-
column.
• 10. Gynoecium 3, syncarpous and inferior.
• 11. Reduction in the number of fertile lobes of stigma
to 2.
• 12. Modification of third sterile lobe of stigma into a
structure called restellum.
• 13. Pollen-grains are agglutinate into pollinia.
• 14. Fruit is a simple capsule.
• 15. Seeds non-endospermic, minute-and light in
weight.