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Orchid Flowers

Orchid flowers come from the largest family within the Angiospermae, or flowering plants. The name of this family is derived from Orchis. This is a genus found within the Orchid family.

The exact number of species of orchid flowers is unknown. The Royal Botanical Gardens of Kew, an internationally important institution of research, list 880 genera of these flowers. Within these genera are nearly 22,000 accepted species. However, the exact number of existing species is unknown. It is speculated that perhaps as many as 25,000 exist.

Orchid flowers tend to be very easy to distinguish. This is because they all share some very prominent features. For instance, they exhibit bilateral symmetry. They always also have one petal which is highly modified. This single petal is larger and is often in an irregular shape. In addition to these differences, the plants have extremely small seeds. Also, their stamens and carpels are fused.

 

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