Many of the blooms on display at the National Orchid Expo in Palmerston North (New Zealand) are likely to have been bred from test-tube "babies".
The pollen donor and surrogate flower will have been hand-picked by growers, the ripened seed pod delivered to a laboratory, germinated and nurtured in a dish of nutrients.
But as organising committee chairman Allan Rae explains, many of the orchid colours and shapes and features that fascinate and delight flower-lovers have evolved naturally for one important function.
That is to get pollinated, using all sorts of sexual trickery and deception to lure the pollinator.
