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The fascination of orchids

By LARITA JACOBS, Times Correspondent
Published October 7, 2007

Quick: Where is Orchid, Florida? What film about orchids stars Meryl Streep and Nicholas Cage? How many species are there of the plant? This weekend, Largo will host the Florida West Coast Orchid Society Annual Orchid Show.

Here is a primer on all things orchid.

- The 1997 movie Night Orchid was filmed in Lake County.

- Nicholas Cage and Meryl Streep starred in the 2003 movie Adaptation. The plot line follows a book about orchids.

- West Palm Beach is nicknamed Orchid City.

- In the Asian tropics, orchid stems are turned into powder and used like flour.

- The giant orchid plant can weigh as much as 2,000 pounds and produce up to 10,000 flowers.

- The smallest orchid grows just one-fourth inch tall and has flowers that are 1/100th of an inch in diameter.

- Some orchids smell like rotting meat in order to attract a fly needed for pollination.

- A few species of orchids are so delicate that their flowers last only a few minutes after blooming.

- April is National Orchid Month.

- Fossilized bees with orchid pollen on their wings indicate orchids thrived alongside the dinosaurs.

- At least 10 countries list the orchid as their national flower.

- Orchids are found in nearly every climate and on every continent except Antarctica.

- There are more than 35,000 species of natural orchids. New ones are still being found and documented.

- More than 150,000 hybrid orchids have been developed.

- The orchid is the second most popular potted plant after the poinsettia.

- Orchid, Fla., is located just below Sebastian on the east coast.

If you go

Orchids

What: Florida West Coast Orchid Society Annual Show

Where: The Honeywell Minnreg Building. 6340 126th Ave.

Hours: Fri. 1-4, Sat. 9-5, Sun. 10-4

Cost: $4.

The show features more than 100 award-winning blooms. Thousands of locally grown orchids for sale.

Call: Bob Barrett (727) 726-1697

[Last modified October 6, 2007, 21:03:38]