orchids photos on Flickr

The Orchidaceae are a diverse and widespread family of flowering plants, with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant, commonly known as the orchid family. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering plants. The Orchidaceae have about 28,000 currently accepted species, distributed in about 763 genera. The determination of which family is larger is still under debate, because verified data on the members of such enormous families are continually in flux. Regardless, the number of orchid species is nearly equal to the number of bony fishes, more than twice the number of bird species, and about four times the number of mammal species. The family encompasses about 6–11% of all seed plants. The largest genera are Bulbophyllum (2,000 species), Epidendrum (1,500 species), Dendrobium (1,400 species) and Pleurothallis (1,000 species). It also includes Vanilla (the genus of the vanilla plant), the type genus Orchis, and many commonly cultivated plants such as Phalaenopsis and Cattleya. Moreover, since the introduction of tropical species into cultivation in the 19th century, horticulturists have produced more than 100,000 hybrids and cultivars. Orchids are easily distinguished from other plants, as they share some very evident, shared derived characteristics, or synapomorphies. Among these are: bilateral symmetry of the flower (zygomorphism), many resupinate flowers, a nearly always highly modified petal (labellum), fused stamens and carpels, and extremely small seeds. 32775

green orchid by Mandana (on and off)

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Orchids by Lois McNaught

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Taken at the Orchid Show, Royal Botanical Gardens, Hamilton, Ontario

Orchid Purple by Bob Rumer.

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Longwood Gardens.

Many thanks to all who take the time to view, comment and fave my images. Enjoy the day.

orchid by Aivar Veidemann

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Orchid by Jeffrey Balfus

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Backyard Flowers

Orchid by blancobello

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Orchids by Bliven Parages

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Explored: 09/27/08

orchid by galsafrafoto

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Photo taken in Ecuador in natural habitat.

Travel to Ecuador

Orchid by Tony

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Margaret's birthday orchid backlit by the afternoon sun.

Orchid by Bob Rumer.

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Longwood Gardens.

Many thanks to all who take the time to view, comment and fav my images.

Enjoy the day.

Orchid by Lucie van Dongen

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orchid by Ricardo Maksoud

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Orchid Heaven by Ziggy Szot

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Moon Orchid by Dmitriy Fomenko

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Moon Orchid

Two yellow orchids. by Alexandra Rudge

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Orchids from Huntington Library and Botanic Gardens. San Marino. California.

Yellow Orchid Petals by Bill Gracey

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I photographed this orchid on Mother's Day in the San Diego Botanic Building in Balboa Park.

I wanted to emphasize the shapes and textures of the petals, so I used side lighting to create the shadows that reveal those qualities. Lit with a Yongnuo flash in an 8.6 inch Lastolite soft box hand held in front of the flower and below it at 4 o'clock. The flash was triggered by a Yongnuo RF-603N.

I've photographed a lot of plants and flowers, because they're all around us, work cheap, and never complain. I have an album of these images with over 800 pictures, and for each one, I have described how I lit them, in case you're interested in that kind of thing.

www.flickr.com/photos/9422878@N08/albums/72157628079460544

ORCHID by Gulfan Afero Photography

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Beautiful Orchid

IMG_3796 by Peter Tyrer

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Orchids

Orchids by Michael Levine-Clark

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Denver Botanic Gardens

Orchid by alainSt

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