Erica Hannickel - Orchid Muse: A History of Obsession in Fifteen Flowers

Orchid
Muse

A History of Obsession in Fifteen Flowers

ERICA HANNICKEL

for Jason and Miles

in unending love, thanks,

and snuggles

Contents

T here is nothing quite like the raw sexuality of an orchid. Were reminded of their carnality by the flowers etymological root: the family is named for orchis, an ancient Greek word for testicle. The vanilla orchid (vainilla being little pod in Spanish, stemming from the Latin for vagina) references the impregnated bean that gives birth to vanilla seeds, the swollen pods luscious scent long thought to be an aphrodisiac. Humans throughout time have imagined a spectrum of sexual organs in these blooms.

Orchids lascivious architecture and otherworldly beauty have given rise to generations of orchid fanatics, and, at times, general orchidelirium. Orchidomania and orchideliriumterms used since the nineteenth centurycapture the obsessive pursuits of orchid hunters and lay public alike who were driven to collect new orchids from dangerous yet environmentally fragile locations and devote their lives to their cultivation. One such moment of orchid fever occurred in the early Victorian era, sweeping through Europe in the 1850s and soon catching fire in America. Individual orchids sold for more than $1,000 ($35,000 today), orchid shows offered enormous prizes for choice specimens, and the flowers were embroidered on dresses, incorporated into elaborate jewelry designs, and painted on wallpaper. Stories emerged from every corner of the globe echoing the same cautionary notethat many a fortune had been made in orchids, but also many lives lost.

Jacob Stead, Orchids (2019).

We might think that something inherently bewitching about orchidssomething beyond descriptionlies behind this obsession. But it took a confluence of several cultural factors for orchidelirium to ignite. The industrial revolution created the fortunes of wealthy patrons who then employed orchid hunters to savage far-flung jungles for flowers. Improvements in steel and glass technology combined to create much larger and more elaborate greenhouses for pampering tropical orchids in cold climates. More efficient printing presses (producing books full of alluring color prints) and higher rates of literacy meant orchid knowledge was more widely accessible. Scientists became more skilled in classifying difficult flowers, and horticulturists perfected long-distance transportation for plants from their native environments and better growing techniques at home. And finally, Victorian womens fashion and home dcor trended toward the ornate, shot through with romantic greenery.

It wasnt just the Victorians who suffered from orchidelirium. Orchids were revered in ancient China and feudal Japan and were the subject of lascivious poetry in Enlightenment Europe. On islands throughout the western Indian Ocean vanilla plantations boomed, far from the orchids home in Mexico. Orchids even had a role in the nineteenth century antislavery effort, and their cultivation has been a solace for various groups seeking societal acceptance throughout time.

However magical orchids themselves may appear to you and me, I find the tales behind orchids equally as captivating. The following chapters recount the stories of more than twenty people who helped kindle orchidomania around the world, and those that keep ardor for orchids smoldering. For too long, these stories have been limited to a handful of explorers and scientists whose names many orchids bear. But orchids have a lot more to tell us beyond their namesthey provide insight into human history, reveal intricate personal and international relationships, stand as dynamic political symbols, and reveal our constantly changing taste in beautiful living things. If we extend our gaze to the women and people of varied backgrounds who also contributed to orchid loresometimes behind the scenes, but often at center stagewell uncover the tenacity of orchid hunters, the lust of queens and empresses for perfect flowers, unexpected anthophiles from all walks of life, and artists and authors quests to capture the libidinous flowers in their work. In the struggle to preserve Earths ecosystems, those charismatic, colorful orchids often stand in for millions of less-showy plants, signifying the sweeping beauty and complexity of nature lost to land conversion, poaching, and climate change. Spanning four centuries and more than a dozen countries, Orchid Muse uncovers the beautiful, hidden, and sometimes dark chapters of this fascinating past.

Orchids are more than just synecdoche for human sexuality, of course. Part One dives into that passionate world, but parts Two through Four examine distinctive moments in orchid science, business, and culture. Widening the story of orchids has revealed new and beautiful tales of human adventure and devotion to orchid cultivation over millennia. The less-known corners of the orchid world have not only given birth to feats of scientific observation and industrial innovation, but also inspired unlikely alliances across classes and cultures. Theyve driven humans into insanity and poverty, been a source of commerce and obsession, and inspired artistic works of stunning beauty and originality. Orchids are found on every continent except Antarctica, and orchid history, it turns out, is just as diverse.

Particular orchids focus the narrative of each chapter. Included for each floweror a near relative better suited to current cultivationis growing information (light, temperature, watering and fertilizing schedule, growing media, seasonal changes, special requirements) as well as features not usually included in orchid guides, such as country of origin, blooming season, duration of bloom, plant and flower size, as well as fragrance. As an indoor orchid grower for almost twenty years, I find these details crucial when deciding whether to purchase an orchid for cultivation and display at home.

Set together, the profiles gathered here are meant to deepen our understanding of the flower-mad and of the flowers that beguile us all. I hope your plants grow healthier and happier by virtue of appreciating the human dramas behind these blooms.

T here are just some people in history you cant help but love. People whose prose and ideas still leap off the page, as invigorating and odd as when written more than two hundred years ago. Though he lived in an age of reason and experimental science, one prominent eighteenth-century English thinker believed that