Radiant beauty: Orchids at Night on display in London

Reflecting on the brilliance of orchids. Image (C) Tim Sandle.

Each February the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in London hosts ‘Orchids by Night’, showcasing some of the spectacular plants within the immense selection.

The orchids are on show at the heart of Kew’s Princess of Wales Conservatory.

The vibrant displays can also be visited during the day, but there’s a special allure to watching these magnificent plants at night.

Seeing the plants illuminated by bright light juxtaposed against the night sky helps to bring out their beauty with a radiant intensity.

Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae. The plants can be found in almost every country in the world except for Antarctica.

Remarkably, orchid flowers are symmetrical and can be divided perfectly in half, with two equal parts.

As well as spectacular plants, the evenings are accompanied by bands and singers from Madagascar, together with cookery demonstrations and appropriately themed food and cocktails. Performances included singer/songwriter and performer Rasoanaivo Hanitrarivo, poet and illustrator Vaonarivo Brown and the joyful Malagasy band, the Boriza Brothers.

Madagascar boasts 49 genera and 240 taxa of orchids.

Vanilla is made from the seedpods of the vanilla orchid, Vanilla planifolia.

Africa is a vast continent containing many types of ecological environments. It harbours the second largest forest reserve in the world, including a huge diversity of orchids.

The name ‘orchid’ comes from the Greek word “orchis” meaning testicle; because of the shape of the bulbous roots.

Orchids can grow on trees (epiphytic), on rocks (lithophytic) or even, uniquely among plants, entirely underground.

The largest orchid genera are Bulbophyllum (2,000 species), Epidendrum (1,500 species), Dendrobium (1,400 species) and Pleurothallis (1,000 species).

Orchids are the largest family of flowering plants, with between 22,000 and 26,000 species in 880 genera.

The continuing mystery of orchids is contained within the fact that scientists are discovering 200 to 300 new orchid species per year.

For those visiting London during mid-winter, seeing the spectacular orchids after hours is well worth a visit to the immense Kew Gardens.