Orchids grow in warm, humid climates and are found largely in the tropical areas of Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Their unusual, long-lasting blossoms and often heady scents have inspired curiosity and wonder over the ages.
A handsome volume titled “The Orchidaceae of Mexico and Guatemala,” written by James Bateman, 1843, forms part of the Biodiversity Heritage Library of Archive.org. It documents the orchids’ many fascinating characteristics as well as gives information on the early culture and collection of orchids by botanists and naturalists of the era. The book contains a number of beautiful, full color plates of the orchids as well as several other small illustrations.
Although the vanilla plant is what comes to a lot of minds when thinking of Mexican orchids, “The Orchidaceae of Mexico and Guatemala” has this to say:
In this list the Vanilla is not included, as this plant has recently been separated (no doubt, most judiciously) by Dr. Lindley, from the natural order “Orchidaceae,” and constituted the type of new order of its own.
Orchids listed in the book as having been observed in Mexico include:
- Many-Flowered Epidendrum (Epidendrum Polyanthum)
- Mr. Rucker’s Variety of Corythes Speciosa (Coryanthes Speciosa)
- Trumpeter’s Schomburgkia (Schomburghia Tibicinis)
- Von Martius Stanhopea (Stanhopea Martiana)
- Tiger-Like Stanhopea (Stanhopea Tigrina)
- Beaked Oncidium (Oncidium Ornithorhynchum)
- Mr. Barker’s Peristeria (Peristeria Barkeri)
- May-Flowering Laelia (Laelia Majalis)
Browse the book and color plates at the Internet Archive