Wild Orchids Of Texas. - Review - book review

Whole Earth, Fall, 2000 by Mary Nisbett

WILD ORCHIDS OF TEXAS Joe Liggio and Ann Orto Liggio. 1999; 228 pp. $29.95. University of Texas Press.

The best thing about a book like this is that by looking at a small, specific group of (wonderful, fascinating) plants you begin to learn about different kinds of habitats and the ecology of place. Without even noticing, you start to get a real feel for what is going on around you. Any book that can do this is a good book, and this one is exceptional.

Wild Orchids is a remarkably thorough and clear-headed book displaying true enthusiasm and love of the orchid family. It describes each of the fifty-two species and two varieties of orchids that inhabit Texas with interesting orchid information as well as thoughts on wild orchid survival and how you can help.

Texas is divided into ten natural regions; the orchids are further mapped by county, so that you get a clear idea of what to look for where. Photos are plentiful and really good. Blooming times, history, and pollinators are noted for each species. So if you're not already in Texas, go visit your long-lost uncle, and take him out for an orchid walk before you settle down in front of the barbecue plate.

"Some may believe they cause no harm to native orchid species when they buy them from commercial growers. Native orchids are offered by some commercial nurseries with the assurance that none have been collected from the wild. However, many times, wild-collected plants that remain in a nursery for only one growing season are then sold under the claims of being "nursery grown" (a practice called "nursery laundering").

... Unenlightened botanists who collect specimens for herbariums can also contribute to the decline of rare orchid species. Although it is important to document new locations for rare species, all unnecessary collecting should be avoided, especially when only a few individual plants are found. Although collecting has little adverse effect on common orchid species, it can have a devastating effect on species already in peril. Alternatives to collecting, for purposes of scientific documentation, include photographs, sketches, measurements, and detailed notes.

"Charles Darwin, in Various Contrivances by Which Orchids are Fertilised by Insects, was the first writer to document the incredible number of seeds produced by a single orchid flower. Darwin estimated that a single pod of the European Orchis maculata produced more than 30 seedpods containing 6,200 seedpods each, for a total of approximately 186,000 seeds. However, this is a modest number compared to the capsule of the tropical Maxillaria, with its 2 million seeds.