I’ve been mining through the cinders of my old blog over at Typepad – picking through my favorite web scribblings from the past year and deciding what to bring over to this spot.
I came across this post about orchids that had been inspired by something I saw in National Geographic. It was an article that talked about how orchids develop a sophisticated method for fooling insects and humans into falling in love with them. By evolving exotically beautiful flowers they can propagate across the planet – even while stuck in a little clay pot – can you imagine? After reading about their ingenious behavior I can understand why people get so spellbound by them.
I love these gorgeous macro shots taken by Daniel Schwabe that I found to go with my quotes. Who can resist these?
“Many Orchids offer no nectar or pollen to reward the bumblebee – rather it seduces male bees with the promise of bee sex and then insures its pollination by frustrating exactly the desire it has excited. The Orchid accomplishes its sexual deception by mimicking the appearance, scent, and even the tactile experience of a female bee.”
“The exactitude of the perfume business may help explain the astounding diversity of the orchid family. A mutation producing even a slight change in the orchid’s scent could … turn out to be the key that unlocks the sexual attentions of a new pollinator, while at the same time turning off the original one.” — National Geographic, September 2009
photos: Daniel Schwabe
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