Oncidium papilio, l'orchidea farfalla che nell'inghilterra del 1800 ha dato origine all'orchidmania

from the book ORCHIDS, STORIES & CHARACTERS 4th edition, 572 pages, €25, available from www.orchideria.it or Amazon: Protagonists for Two Centuries More than two centuries have passed since the first tropical orchids arrived in Europe and inflamed the passion of the greatest aristocrats and landowners of the Old and New Worlds. The orchid mania*, orchid fever, spared no rule: tropical expeditions lasting several years were undertaken into the heart of the forests of every remote corner of the planet; dizzying sums were paid for the few plants that survived long and exhausting journeys; new species appearing on the market were valued at entire fortunes; tricks and deceptions of all kinds were devised to hide and confuse the origins of the plants, which were as valuable as mines. Enormous greenhouses were built to house the precious plants arriving from tropical countries: the largest and most majestic covered 4,000 m2, was 91 m long, 44 m wide, and 18 m high—as high as a six-story building! It was heated by eight boilers, and a small railway was built with a train carrying coal to fuel the boilers. It was built in Chatsworth** in 1834 by Joseph Paxton*** for Sir William Spencer Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire, to house his orchid collection after he was enchanted at an exhibition by the Oncidium papilio, an orchid whose striking resemblance to a tropical butterfly has now been transferred to the genus Psychopsis. Until his magical encounter with the South American "mariposa," Lord Cavendish, who had been deaf since birth and had other physical defects, had shown no interest in botany. From that moment, however, he was infected by orchid mania, an extraordinary passion that involved, as if in a frenetic competition, the greatest aristocrats of his peers throughout the kingdom. *Orchidmania This period is remembered as the era of Orchidmania, or Orchid Fever, or Orchid Delirium, which gripped Victorian England, a period of collective madness far surpassing the "tulip fever" that had swept Holland two centuries earlier. The new orchids arriving from distant and still unexplored tropical countries, with flowers in original shapes, large and spectacular or tiny like precious jewels, and the legends, mysteries, and allure of the unknown that they often brought with them through stories and legends made them even more captivating. There was a time when carnivorous orchids were believed to exist. The legend was fueled by the discovery in Australia of an orchid growing on a skull. In reality, human bones were discovered in a long-abandoned Australian indigenous cemetery, and an orchid, apparently a Dendrobium, had grown on a skull. The skull and orchid were brought to London and sold at auction for a staggering price as a carnivorous orchid, and for a time, it was believed that carnivorous orchids did indeed exist. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert visited Chatsworth Glasshouse on a cold winter evening in 1843, and for the occasion, the glasshouse and garden were illuminated by more than 10,000 lamps. - Website: www.orchideria.it Facebook:   / orchideemedicinaperanima   #orchideriadimorosolo #orchidee Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/orchideria_...