Useful information

Magic shoes

Orchids have an unusual arrangement - leaves, shoots, roots, flowers. Even their "behavior" does not fit into the usual framework. Despite the fame of mysterious plants, orchids are widespread on the globe, they have mastered both super-humid and dry regions. Orchid family(Orchidaceae) - one of the largest in the plant world. It brings together nearly 30,000 species of herbaceous perennials. Orchids are not only found in the tropics. In our forests grow orchis, fingercorns, so named for the shape of the rhizome, lubka double-leaved.

Any orchid is inherent in a kind of sophistication, I would even say - aristocratic. Let's compare, for example, the same lyubka or orchis with gladiolus. And, perhaps, many varieties of gladiolus will lose to orchids in elegance. Orchids gained their legendary fame, of course, thanks to their flowers.

But oddly enough, tropical orchids are known in our country much better than their northern relatives, although quite a lot of them grow in the temperate zone - about 900 species. Our orchids are in no way inferior to southern sissies in decorativeness and variety.

Alas, unfortunately, “lovers” of flowers “weed” them in the forests much more carefully than an avid gardener gets rid of weeds in the beds.

Our most beautiful orchids are lady's shoes... There is a wonderful legend about the origin of the shoes. The goddess of love, Cypria, or Venus, was beautiful. She carefully monitored her clothes and shoes. Once she lost her shoe, which turned into a beautiful flower - Lady's slipper. The flower of the shoe resembles a shoe in its structure - a wide and spacious sock does not squeeze the foot, elegant side petals are convenient for tying the divine shin, and a variety of colors allows you to choose shoes to match any outfit. Botanists give a more prosaic interpretation of the structure of a flower, but more on that later.

Real slipper (Cypripedium calceolus)Spotted fingernail (Dactylorhiza maculata)Orchis (Orchis militaris)

Venus shoes appeared in Europe around the 16th century, but they began to talk about any success in their cultivation only from the end of the 19th century. In Europe, shoes are considered a rather difficult culture. There, winters are too mild for them, the plant has to be protected from premature germination in early spring or during winter thaws. In our conditions, the shoes, which will be discussed, are quite stable. The main thing is to create conditions for them such as in nature. This is both simple and difficult at the same time. But everything has its time. And now about those types of shoes that can be cultivated in the Urals.

The most famous is undoubtedly real slipper(Cypripedium calceolus). It was widespread in all forests from Central Europe to the Far East, but thanks to the "efforts" of lovers of rare plants, its habitat has been sharply reduced. By the way, it is because of this that all the shoes are included in the Red Book ...

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