THE STORY OF ONE FLOWER: ORCHID EARRINGS BY LUZ CAMINO
Don't compare her to sunshine and roses when she's clearly orchids and moonlight.
Melody Lee, Moon Gypsy
Among the artists who have been inspired by the pure and wild beauty of orchids is Luz Camino.
The visionary behind these White Orchid Earrings, Luz radiates warmth and refinement, true to her name which means "light" in Spanish. Her pieces are nature itself, transformed into wearable art through her remarkable imagination, expert use of precious stones and metals, unconventional materials, and innovative techniques.
It sometimes strikes me how immensely fortunate I am that each day should take its place in my life, either reddened with the rising and setting sun, or refreshingly cool with deep, dark clouds, or blooming like a white flower in the moonlight. What untold wealth!
Rabindranath Tagore
Orchids, one of the most diverse families of flowers, have enchanted people for centuries. The unique plants, with their 35,000 species and countless hybrids, symbolize purity, innocence, and new beginning, and can adapt and thrive in almost any environment, from tropical rainforests to arid deserts.
The pristine white orchids, in particular, are often associated with purity, innocence, and reverence, and are commonly presented as tokens of appreciation and respect.
This particular orchid gets all its energy from fungi, sometimes from different kinds of fungi simultaneously. It never even begins to turn to the sun. No photosynthesis here. It relies utterly on its underground friends: the unseen, unsung fungi. Forgive me if this is a romantic vision. Orchids seem to have that effect on people. […] They are not lone, rising, random gifts, like treasure. They are weak and desperate, and they are gamblers, hoping their luck holds and a good strong friend can be found close by to give them everything they lack.
Aliya Whiteley, The Secret Life of Fungi: Discoveries From A Hidden World
The history of orchids is as fascinating as the flowers themselves. Originating between 80 and 120 million years ago during the time of the dinosaurs, orchids have survived and thrived through countless environmental changes. They grow on trees, rocks, and in various soil conditions across the globe, with the exception of Antarctica.
Despite their long history and complex reproductive strategies, orchids face challenges in their early life stages. Their tiny seeds lack the food reserves that many other plants possess, relying instead on a symbiotic relationship with fungi to provide the necessary nutrients for growth.
Orchids have mastered the art of reproduction through intricate relationships with their pollinators, often involving mimicry, scent, and clever designs to ensure the transfer of pollen. For example, the bee orchid (Ophrys apifera) mimics the appearance of a female bee, attracting male bees who unwittingly become pollinators in their attempt to mate with the flower.
“Is that an orchid?" I asked, pointing to a particularly unattractive small brown plant. […] I leaned over the ugly brown plant.
Hothouse Flower and the Nine Plants of Desire by Margot Berwin
"Coconut pie! How is that possible?"
"Wonderful, isn't it? She doesn't need bright, flashy colors or spectacular sprays of flowers. Her pollinators, the moths, come out at night. She uses her coconut scent to guide and entice the little moth in much the way we use perfume to entice men in nightclubs and cafés."
The allure of orchids is not a recent phenomenon. Orchidelirium, also known as orchidomania or orchid fever, refers to the Victorian era's obsession with collecting and discovering orchids. Wealthy orchid fanatics of the 19th century sent explorers and collectors to almost every part of the world in search of new varieties - a craze similar to the Dutch tulip mania.
Hired collectors traveled around the globe, facing numerous dangers in their quest for new species. Many died on these trips due to conflicts with locals or rival orchid-hunters who engaged in destructive behaviors. The competition among collectors was fierce, with some going so far as to urinate on the plants collected by their rivals after stripping the rest of the habitat bare.
Many collectors died in process of searching for new species, and despite persistent reports that the men died from drowning, gunshot and knife wounds, snakebite, trampling by cattle, or blows in the head with blunt instruments, it is generally accepted that in each case the primary cause of death was orchid fever.
Eric Hansen, Orchid Fever: A Horticultural Tale of Love, Lust, and Lunacy
If you want to smell an orchid, you better do so in the morning or evening, when their scent is the strongest as they are trying to attract their pollinators who are most active at that time of the day. They also smell stronger on warm and sunny than on chilly and cloudy days.
Some of the orchids are offensive to the nose: the worst smelling specimens reek of rotting apples and bananas, rotting Brie cheese or fish, even decaying animals or dog droppings.
However, most of those sublime, ancient and curious flowers smell delightfully, like a lily-of-the-valley, cinnamon and vanilla, chocolate and roses, sweet honey, citrus flower, or spicy, exotic perfume.
