Smithsonian

Way back when, sometime during the late Pleistocene, I worked at the Natural History Museum. Every department had what they called their "Oh My!" collection. This consisted of the most spectacular specimens in their possession, regardless of scientific value (which was often considerable), and tucked off in a corner for showing visiting dignitaries and the like; the late Emporer Hirihito of Japan, an amature shrimp taxonomist was shown the giant crabs and emerald-eyed mantis shrimp in the Crustacean collection. Some clever person thought it would be a good idea to assemble all the Oh Mys into a single exhibition called the "Glories of Nature" just to show the public that bugs, worms, and snails were more than yucky and more than a passing interest to specialists. This collection, or parts of it, is now on permanent display in the Constitution Avenue lobby.

A direct outgrowth of this is the orchid exhibition, held more or less yearly, in which the grand old lady of the Mall outdoes herself with a spectacular display of orchids. An entire hall is decked out with flowering orchids, wild and domestic, from all parts of the world. Pat and I went down to the Mall last Saturday to see this fantastic orchid exhibition which runs through the end of April. Anyone remotely in the area should catch this.

Flowers are the sexual organs of plants, serving to get pollen to other flowers of the same species so more plants can be produced. Plants, being rooted in place, need a third party to move the pollen around. Some, like oaks and maples, use the wind, which is why your nose starts to get funky in early spring and for some unfortunates, keeps on running until late fall when the ragweed has finally stopped blooming. Other plants use insects, hummingbirds or even snails to move the pollen from one interested party to the next, using carbohydrate-rich nectar as a lure and reward.

Orchids are the pole dancers of the plant world. They are showy, come-hither flowers promising all manner of delights, but are mostly empty promise. Few species produce nectar.

Most produce fragrant oils, luring insects within, and liberally coating them with pollen. The insects, mostly solitary bees, are released only to be fooled yet again to deliver the pollen and fertilize the flower.

Orchids can be found nearly everywhere, I once found a Slender Lady's Tresses blooming in the front yard of a house in Bethany Beach, Delaware, growing in what was practically beach sand. The picture, by the way is not it.

Just a few more pictures from the exhibit: