From "The Times of India"

Orchids for every season, reason

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ THURSDAY, APRIL 08, 2004 02:58:58 AM ]

LUCKNOW: If in the fantastical world of bedtime tales, Fairy Godmother
bestowed Cinderella with the prettiest glass slippers, Mother Nature matched
their ethereal beauty on earth in the form of the vibrant purple Royal Lady'
s Slipper Orchid - the most beautiful flower to behold.
Secretary of the Orchid Society of India and the winner of the lifetime
achievement award on Wednesday, Prof SP Vij has devoted 42 years of his life
to studying orchids. According to him, orchids are nature's comical mimics.
"Close your eyes and conjure up the image of any face and you will find the
very same features personified in one of the over 1,00,000 different species
of orchid blooms. And it's not only faces that find reflection in this
fascinating flower. Orchids also take the shape of birds, monkeys, dogs and
scorpions."
Apart from the development and promotion of orchid culture, the society is
also investigating this particular unique characteristic of orchids. Vij
added that for prorogation, orchids are known to take the shape, size and
colour of female insects for 'pseudo-copulation'. Male insects are instantly
attracted to the allure of the impostor orchid, thereby helping in the
process of pollination.
Besides the floriculture prospects in terms of export of orchids, the
flowers also have great medicinal value.
Orchid extracts have proved to be great aphrodisiacs and are also known to
have rejuvenating and regenerative effects. In addition to this, a US study
on orchid cultivators suggests that touch stimulus of orchids increases life
expectancy by 10 years.
"There is not a single ailment for which, therapeutic and curative elements
are not found in one or another orchid specie. In fact, the name orchid is
derived from a Greek word based on it's two tubers that have immense
medicinal value. The ancient Greeks, it appears, were more impressed with
the medicinal properties than the beauty of the colourful blooms. In fact,
certain orchids have exhibited anti-HIV properties giving scientific leads
for drug development," he added.
Vij added that though it has not been scientifically proven, long ago,
Europeans believed that if expectant mothers ate healthy tubers of orchids
they would produce a male child and if they ate shrivelled tubers they would
be bestowed with a baby girl.
For those who are in orchid culture for their magnificent beauty, there are
orchids for all seasons and climates. Lucknow's climate is ideally suited
for phelenopsis and foxtails. "Our aim is to promote orchids to such an
extent that not only do we start 'saying it with flowers' but we 'say it
with orchids'," he enthused.





---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.654 / Virus Database: 419 - Release Date: 06.04.04

Reka wrote:

Orchid extracts have proved to be great aphrodisiacs and are also known to
have rejuvenating and regenerative effects. In addition to this, a US study
on orchid cultivators suggests that touch stimulus of orchids increases life
expectancy by 10 years.


And here I thought it was just my rugged good looks... But it is a
good thing to know that I will live forever. I can just see the spam
campaign now... Get 0Rc4ids F4sT!!!

Rob

--
Rob's Rules: http://www.msu.edu/~halgren
1) There is always room for one more orchid
2) There is always room for two more orchids
2a. See rule 1
3) When one has insufficient credit to purchase
more orchids, obtain more credit

"Reka" wrote in message
...
From "The Times of India"
Orchids for every season, reason
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ THURSDAY, APRIL 08, 2004 02:58:58 AM ]
snip
In fact, the name orchid is
derived from a Greek word based on it's two tubers that have immense
medicinal value. The ancient Greeks, it appears, were more impressed with
the medicinal properties than the beauty of the colourful blooms.

Hmm, actually, from what I have read it wasn't the medicinal qualities of
these tubers that inspired the Greeks.
Here is what Webster's has to say on the origin of the word: "orchid (Gr.:
orchis; lit.: testicle): from the shape of the roots". Apparently the
orchids that grow in the Mediteranean region have tubers that are very
suggestive in shape. I first read about this in the book "Ultimate Orchid"
by Thomas Sheehan (published by the Smithsonian and the American Orchid
Society), a really excellent photo album of orchid genera, as well as a good
source of some interesting orchid trivia, such as

"Pliny's Natural History (AD 77) the origin of the Doctrine of Signatures,
in which it was believed that God indicated the usefulness of a plant
through its appearance, referred to the sexual power of orchids. Also in the
first century AD, the Greek physician Dioscorides indicated that orchids
were useful for treating genital problems."

So, you see the statement from the Times of India is a bit tame by
comparison and maybe giving the ancient Greeks a bit too much credit by
making it sound like they had a purely scientific interest in orchids ...
yeah, right.

Joanna

On Thu, 8 Apr 2004 22:23:54 +0200, "Reka"
wrote:

From "The Times of India"
. In fact,
certain orchids have exhibited anti-HIV properties giving scientific leads
for drug development," he added.
Of all the HIV drug leads I have heard this is the lamest. I do
wish it were true. But this article leads me to doubt this man's
word on anything.

Here I think it is his own prejudice showing.
Vij added that though it has not been scientifically proven, long ago,
Europeans believed that if expectant mothers ate healthy tubers of orchids
they would produce a male child and if they ate shrivelled tubers they would
be bestowed with a baby girl.

Lady you have too much time on your hands - Reading such off the
wall newspapers.
SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/albums.php

Hey, my News Alert found the word "orchids" and brought it to my attention!
Funny, though, that two newspapers from that area were on the last one.
--
Reka

This is LIFE! It's not a rehearsal. Don't miss it!
http://www.rolbox.it/hukari/index.html

"Susan Erickson" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
...
On Thu, 8 Apr 2004 22:23:54 +0200, "Reka"
wrote:

From "The Times of India"
. In fact,
certain orchids have exhibited anti-HIV properties giving scientific
leads
for drug development," he added.
Of all the HIV drug leads I have heard this is the lamest. I do
wish it were true. But this article leads me to doubt this man's
word on anything.

Here I think it is his own prejudice showing.
Vij added that though it has not been scientifically proven, long ago,
Europeans believed that if expectant mothers ate healthy tubers of
orchids
they would produce a male child and if they ate shrivelled tubers they
would
be bestowed with a baby girl.

Lady you have too much time on your hands - Reading such off the
wall newspapers.
SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/albums.php


---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.654 / Virus Database: 419 - Release Date: 06.04.04

Sue,

Actually that piece of info about the mistaken belief that the gender of a
child being determined by the size of orchid tuber eaten is another piece of
trivia reported in the Smithsonian/AOS book that I was referencing in my
earlier post. However, in the "Ultimate Orchid" book this is presented as a
quote from John Parkinson around 1640, who in turn is claiming that he is
presenting the belief of Dioscorides from the first century AD, an advocate
of the Doctrine of Signatures (so we don't know if any Europeans actually
believed this, we just know that one European claimed that another European
believed this a long long time ago). According to this quote though it's not
the mother who is supposed to eat the root, it's the father who is supposed
to do the munching if he wants a son, and he should choose the bigger of the
two tubers, whereas if the mother wants a girl, she should eat the smaller
of the two tubers of the Cynorkis orchid (note: not mention of shriveled or
unhealthy). This seems not as prejudiced as all that: 1) if it is true that
Dioscorides actually believed this in the first century AD, it's interesting
that already then someone thought that the gender of a child might have
something to do with the father and isn't just up to the mother; 2) As long
as the girl-child tuber does not need to be unhealthy, I have no problem
with it being the smaller of the two, after all on average women are smaller
than men, and the Doctrine of Signatures claimed that the size of a thing in
nature indicated its usefulness. So it would seem that in the original
version of this theory no offense to girls and women was intended. It's
still a false theory, but to err is human.

I think it is fascinating sometimes to find out more about beliefs of
different people about orchids over the centuries. Since these plants have
fascinated people for so long, a lot of imagination was spent contemplating
them, and some of it is really bizarre. :-)

Best,
Joanna

"Susan Erickson" wrote in message
...
snip
Here I think it is his own prejudice showing.
Vij added that though it has not been scientifically proven, long ago,
Europeans believed that if expectant mothers ate healthy tubers of
orchids
they would produce a male child and if they ate shrivelled tubers they
would
be bestowed with a baby girl.