The vast majority of tropical orchids were brought into cultivation during the 19th century. For over 50 years, regular consignments containing tens of thousands of new species were shipped to Britain, leaving whole areas of rainforest stripped of their treasures. By the time they arrived in England, there were many losses. Orchids rotted in the holds of the ships or were eaten by the rats and cockroaches that infested the ships, until only a very few survived. Shipwrecks, not unusual occurrences in those days, also accounted for total losses of whole consignments.

The finest varieties of those plants that remained were sold at auction at hugely inflated prices, where competition among the wealthy collectors was fierce. In this way, the first of the prodigious collections of orchids were created; their equal has never been seen since. The lust for tropical orchids spread beyond Europe to the East Coast of the United States, and by the turn of the 20th century orchids were being grown on both sides of the Atlantic.

In London, the Royal Horticultural Society appointed an Orchid Committee to set the standards for judging and awarding the best clones, and Britain maintained its lead in the introduction of new species. Early Orchid Nurseries The earliest nursery to specialize in tropical epiphytes and other exotic plants was that of Conrad Loddiges. He set up his nursery in the Hackney district of London. By 1812, he had established the largest collection of tropical plants known at that time. He published a journal, The Cabinet, in which he described many of the new plants. Other nurserymen followed, and the firm of B. S. Williams and Sons in Upper Norwood, London, and William Bull in the King’s Road, Chelsea, London, were at the forefront of supplying orchids to owners of large estates.

By the 19th century, the Exeter nursery of James Veitch and Sons in Devon employed the greatest number of collectors to search for new trees, shrubs and other garden plants, as well as orchids. The firm of Sander’s and Sons from St Albans came later, but rose to rival the most influential commercial establishments.

The plants eventually arrived in England and were named Phalaenopsis sanderiana. The flowers, however, were never red, but a pale rosy-pink. Another of Sander’s collectors was making further discoveries in New Guinea. He encountered a village where the tribesmen laid the bones of their dead in graveyards and then decorated them with the finest orchids they could find.

The Aztecs grew this vine-like orchid, which they called Tlilxochitl, for the seed capsules, which were ground and mixed with the brown seeds of the cacao plant to produce a bitter drink that is the basis of the chocolate we have today.

This was a condition insisted upon by the natives, who were persuaded to relinquish parts of their valued ancestors only after mirrors, beads and a roll of brass wire had been exchanged. The plants, still attached to the skulls, and the idols were sold as one lot and purchased by the Hon. Walter Rothschild, in whose collection they remained for many years. D. schroderianum was named after Baron Schroeder, who was a patron of Frederick Sander.

Phalaenopsis are strikingly beautiful, and have been popular among orchid collectors since the golden era of orchid hunting. This orchid is Phalaenopsis Flare Spots.