For plant anatomy, look at the basics of botany blog, and at fruit types.  What’s in a name 1 and part 2 discuss how Latin names work and why they are important

Some of the other families I’ve examined include the the Plantaginaceae (Plantains), Rosaceae (Roses), Ranunulaceae (Buttercups), Caryophyllaceae (Campions), Fabaceae (Peas), Brassicaceae (Cabbages), Apiaceae (Carrots); and the Asteraceae (Daisy family).  The Orchids will be the last in this series for a while.

I am a botanical illustrator, not a trained botanist.  So if you see a mistake, tell mw so I can fix it.  Thanks.

Fragrant orchid Gymnadenia conopsea

Wildflower families:Orchidaceae

The Orchid family is the most profuse on earth with 760 genus and more than 28,000 species globally.  They are members of the Monocots, along with grasses, sedges, rushes and lilies.  As well as having simple leaves with parallel veins, often in a basal rosette; many also have swollen root tubers called pseudobulbs.  There is much variety in the irregular flowers, but all have a mechanism for giving sacs of pollen to a visiting insect.  These are known as pollinia.  Seeds are tiny, held in a capsule.

Early Marsh Orchid Dactylorhiza incarnata ssp coccinea

Orchids are considered exotic so are popular house plants.  Many homes have a couple of Moth orchids, Phalaenopsis, on a window sill.  Dendrobium, Cattleya, Oncidium, and Miltonia are other hot house varieties.

The flavouring Vanilla comes from the pod and seeds of Canilla planifolia which is grown commercially.  Likewis, the starch-rich tubers of some Dactylorhiza and Orchis species are ground up and used for cooking and medicine.

Early Marsh Orchid Dactylorhiza incarnata ssp coccinea with swollen pseudobulbs

Orchidacea overview

Plants in this family have simple linear alternate leaves, with some reduced to scales.  The veins are parallel.

Orchid flowers are bisexual and irregular and amazingly diverse.  They can be solitary or in a raceme.  Generally, they consist of two whorls of 3, and often twist as they develop.  Pollen is held in adapted Pollinia which are produced by one, occasionally two or three stamen.  Ovaries are inferior.

Cretan orchid Cephalanthera cucullata

The name Orchidaceae comes from the Greek word “Orchis” meaning testicle.  This refers to the bulbous shape of the swollen root or pseudobulb that you see in many species.

Early purple orchid Orchis mascula

Orchidaceae Leaves

Orchid leaves are pretty similar; all are simple with parallel veins, tend to be fleshy and don’t have stipules or a petiole.  The leaves en-sheathe the stem.  Leafless orchids reduce their leaves to scales and take an even more intimate relationship with mycorrhizal fungi which provide them with a lot more nutrients than in regular fungi-orchid symbiosis. In leafless orchids, roots are photosynthetic organs.  (Many thanks to Max Rykaczewski for this clarification!)  Some species have markings on the leaf, like the Spotted orchid Dactylorhiza fuchsii.

Common spotted orchid Dactylorhiza fuchsii

Orchidaceae Flowers

The two whorls that make up the orchid are an outer ring of Petaloids, and an inner ring of petals. Petaloids are a cross between sepals and petals. Outer and inner whorls often have the same colouring.  One of the inner petaloids has a projection, like a spur.

Orchid diagram

Orchids also have a large lip.  This grows at the top of the Orchid flower, but twists 180 degrees as it grows so that by the time the plant needs pollinating the enlarged labellum can act like a landing strip for pollinating insects.  In some single-flowered Orchids, the flower stem bends back on itself and over the stem to achieve the same result. This process is called Resupination.

Orchid flower of Early marsh orchid Dactylorhiza incarnata ssp coccinea

Pollinia can be highly evolved to dovetail with one specific pollinator.  Sometimes the plant glues these sacs of pollen to an insect head, at other times to a bird’s beak.  Smooth surfaces like eyes and mouthparts make good adhesion sites.  The only birds that pollinate orchids are Hummingbirds, and although they pollinate a mere 3% of Orchid species, it makes for around 1000 species using bird pollination.

Diagram of a Pollinia and within an orchid flower

The plant produces a viscous glue, and once the pollinarium is attached, this dries out and rotates the structure into the ideal position for pollinating the next stigma visited.  There is a pair of Pollinium per flower.  For more on Pollinia attachment check out this brief overview from iNaturalist.

Orchid bee Euglossa cybelia with Cycnoches guttulatum orchid and pollinia attached to the abdomen

The ovary is inferior and has 3 fused carpels.  Monocots often present floral parts in multiples of 3, eudictos in multiples of four or five.

Orchidaceae Fruit

Orchid seeds are produced in capsules which get shaken by the wind.  Seeds are tiny, like dust, and are perfectly suited for wind dispersal.

Common lizard Lacerta vivipara in field with grasses buttercup and orchids

In the wild, seeds rely on symbiotic fungi to germinate as the embryo is tiny and there’s almost no endosperm for nutrient storage.  Humans sometimes germinate them in sterile environments, in nutrient rich agar! (For more on germinating orchid seeds look at this Orchidbliss blog.)

Jersey orchid Anacamptis laxiflora

Orchidaceae: Other species

In the UK we have 15 common orchids, as listed in this BBC Countryfile article.  Sometimes several species grow in abundance oat one site, like at Hartslock Nature Reserve where over 7 species grow on one slope.

Many tropical orchids are epiphytic, growing on trees, and acting like clambering vines.

Pyramidal orchid Anacamptis pyramidalis

Conclusion

I’ve never spent an enormous amount of time with the Orchids.  When I see them growing in a field I am always delighted, but they don’t seem to fill the pages of my sketchbook.  Perhaps it’s time for that to change.  References for this blog and all the others in this series include my FSC botany course delivered by Iain Powell, the Common Families of Flowering Plants by Michael Hickey & Clive King, and the excellent Naturespot website.

Bee orchid Ophrys apifera

The post Wildflower families: Orchidaceae appeared first on Lizzie Harper.

If you’ve come from the youtube film and just want a printable PDF to work with, please scroll to the bottom of the page)

Learning about Orchids

I decided this was the perfect time to try and learn a bit about orchid flowers, so I could stop being scared of them.  Consulting Common Families of Flowering Plants by Hickey & King, Understanding the Flowering Plants by Bebbington, and The Cambridge Illustrated Glossary of Botanical Terms by Hickey & King I pieced together a diagram.  I drew it up and labelled it, and will use it anytime I’m asked to illustrate and orchid.

The take home message is that the whole orchid flower is twisted upside down.  Yes, I know.  But if you look at its’ pedicel (where the inferior ovary is) you can even see the twisted striations.  Why?  So that the large, flat Labellum petal can act as a broad landing mat for pollinators.  Different types twist in different ways.   Our Marsh orchid has managed a Resupinate twist, basically a 180 degree flip.

The Labellum, or base petal, often has a spur growing back from it.  There are two wing petals, in the case of my Early Marsh orchid these are help up above the flower, like hands flung up in an act of surrender.  Then there’s the Outer perianth and inner perianth(also referred to as the Median and lateral sepal).  Inside these are the paired Polliniums.

Diagram of a Pollinia and within an orchid flower

Orchid Reproduction

Orchids don’t always need insect pollinators and some can self-fertilize, but when they do want pollinating they are incredibly clever.  Some mimic female insects to lure lust-filled males to them, then glue the pollinium to them.  Others, like the Fragrant orchid, will glue the pollinium to the tongue of a feeding butterfly, perfectly positioning it to fertilize the sticky stigmatic area on the next orchid it visits. Pollinium get attached to legs, eyes, backs…and carried onto the next orchid where fertilization occurs.

Orchid bee Euglossa cybelia with Cycnoches guttulatum orchid

Pencil roughs and alterations

The first pencil rough needed tweaking as the plant was too tall.  This involved ditching a pair of leaves and re-drawing the bottom of the stem and the orchid bulb (pseudo bulb).  Getting feedback from botanists is very welcome, it means I feel confident in the accuracy of my illustrations.

Pencil rough with feedback

Materials

I’m using Stonehenge Aqua hotpress watercolour paper, Winsor & Newton pans (topped up from tubes), and (incredibly for me) use the synthetic Princeton Neptune Round brush throughout.  (For more on this, please check out my blogs on Synthetic alternatives to the Winsor & Newton series 7 sable brushes)

Leaves

The leaves of this plant are described as a light, spring green, although they seem to vary a lot in the photos.  However, unlike the Spotted orchids (close relatives), they are entirely green.

Common spotted orchid Dactylorhiza fuchsii

Mixing Sap green, Cobalt blue, and Cadmium lemon, I start by outlining wach leaf then plotting in the longditudinal parallel veins. Once dry, I make a lighter tint of this green by adding lots of water, and a touch of Cerulean blue.  I paint this over all the leaves, then leave it to dry.

Another paler wash goes on top of this, and the difference between the underside and top of the leaf blade is suggested with a slight difference in colour (a little milkier and bluer below)

Once dry, I pick out the darks by mixing Sepia with Cobalt blue and a touch of Winsor Green (yellow hue).  Go easy, you really just want these dark areas to show definition, not to darken the leaves.

Roots

Each root is outlined in a brown made from Sepia, the green mixed for the leaf, and Yellow ochre.  The pseudobulbs and plotted in with a pale brown made from Yellow ochre and Naples yellow.

Whilst wet, I use tiny blobs of the darker root brown to add texture.  When the paint is dry, I suggest shadows with a mix of Sepia and Cobalt blue.

Stem

Using a dilute and yellowish tint of the greens, I paint in the stem, being sure to suggest the parallel veins and a slight shadow on the right hand side.  traditionally, the light source in botanical illustration comes from the top left, so shadows behave accordingly.

Flowers

There are between 10 and 70 flowers per inflorescence on this species of Orchid, so it’s worth pulling out one flower and paitning it in more detail.  I do this, and emphasize the twist in the column,  The colour is vital in this sub-species, being described as “bright red”, “brick red”, “scarlet”, “orange-infused red”, and “markedly redder than other orchids”.  Close and repeated consultation of all my reference gives it as something of a reddish maroon.  I make this hue from Alizarin crimson, Cadmium red, and Opera rose.

The other vital diagnostic in the Early Marsh Orchid is that the sides of the Labellum are inflexed, curled back on themselves.  This means the flower looks narrower than many similar orchids, and that the central keel of the labellum is raised, almost like the keel of a boat.  This proved excrutiatingly tricky to illustrate, although I tried my best.

Flowers vs Bracts

I feel a bit weak looking at that big inflorescence, it’s s hard to figure out what’s orchid and what’s bract, or flower column. First thing to do is separate them out.  So I paint in the bracts, thinking carefully all the time about what is and isn’t the flowering part.  I use the same yellowish green as on the stem – sap green, cobalt blue, cadmium yellow and a whole lot of water.  I add a touch of Daniel Smith Spring green watercolour.  Once outlined, I paint over the tips of the top bracts in Alizarin crimson, aware that the flowering heads look red all over and no areas of clear green are visible.

Then I in fill with a dilute version of the initial green hue.

Once dry, I add more red to the bracts.

Flowers: The Labellum

The literature suggests that the labellum is a deeper red than the upper petals and sepals. This means I add a tiny bit more Cadmium red and a touch of Permanent carmine to the red mix.  Although it doesn’t really succeed, I try to suggest the reflexing of the labellum edges as I paint.  I’m worried that the flowers all look too orchid-typical, and not oblong enough.

Flowers in their entirety

The other sepals and petals are outlined with a pinker colour.  This means adding more Opera pink, and water to the mix.

As always, colours are allowed to completely dry.

Now use tints of the red and of the pink to fill in the orchid flowers, leaving a white area at the centre of each flower.  A dab of yellow green at the top of these central areas is enough to suggest the complexities of the pollinium, and a pale area is left below this.

Next come the distinctive markings on the labellum, easily added sing Permanent magenta straight form the pan.

Now I need to knock the whole thing back, and make the inflorescence red and purple instead of green.  Everything gets covered with a tint of Alizarin crimson and Opera rose.  Once dry, there follows a very long period of adding darker shades of Alizarin crimson.   Then I pick out shadows with a mix of Cobalt blue and the magenta.  I also added a touch of the reds to the sheath area down by the pseudo-bulb.  This helps unite the image.

A few drop shadows made from Cobalt blue and Permanent magenta, and we’re done.

Conclusion

Knowing a little about the structure of orchids proved really helpful in this job.  Right after finishing, I spilled most of a jar of water on the illustration. I was amazed and delighted to find that, after very loud swearing and judicious application of clean loo roll, no damage had been done.

Early Marsh Orchid Dactylorhiza incarnata ssp coccinea

I’m glad to have completed this illustration.  I don’t think it’s my best orchid to date, but it passes muster.  Fingers crossed that the client thinks so too!

To see a film of me illustrating this orchid in real time, please see below.

Below is a pdf of the finished orchid illustration.  Feel free to print it off and trace (it’s for use as an art template only).

Early Marsh Orchid Dactylorhiza incarnata ssp coccinea

The post Orchid Botanical Illustration Step by step appeared first on Lizzie Harper.

(We should also mention the rushes and sedges.  These are also monocots.  For a beginners guide to sedges click here, for a beginners guide to rushes follow this link.)

Drawing a plant is one of the best ways to begin to understand it.  I hope this crash course in grass anatomy will help.

Anatomy of Grass:   Overview of the Plant

Grasses have long leaves or blades, straight thin roots, a rounded (often hollow) stem (or culm), and a flowering spike.  Lots of people may not realise that the top region of a grass plant happens to be the plant’s flowers and seeds.  It becomes obvious when you think about a grass like wheat, but other species might fall under the radar.

Bread wheat Triticum aestivum

The culm of a grass has “knees”, these are known as nodes.  These nodes might be at a bend in the culm, or just on a straight run of the stem.  The culm tends to be swollen at the nodes.  They may be hairy or smooth, depending on species.  This bending at the nodes is known as genticulate growth.  Some people confuse grasses with sedges and rushes; remember that grasses are the only one of these groups which can “bend at the knees”.

The space between these nodes is called the internode.  Its length can help differentiate between species of grass.

Blades (leaves) of grass tend to be flat and linear.  They are rranged alternatively up the culm, and have parallel and unbranching veins.  Blades can be broad, or needle like.  In some species they roll in on themselves to make bristle-like leaves.  Noting if they are hairy or smooth helps determine the species.

The blades of grass grow up the culm like a tube, then grow outward.  This encircling or tubular covering is known as a sheath. Sheaths may cling tight to the culm.  They may be loose and inflated.  This is yet another thing to look out for if you’re trying to i.d. a grass plant.

Overview of the anatomy of a grass (Meadow oat grass Avenula pratensis)

Grass Ligules

Ligules are little flaps of membranous tissue that form at the top of the sheath and the base of the leaf blade.  They are very cool as their shape varies a great deal from species to species.  In many cases they’re tiny, so a hand lens might be handy if you’re going to take a closer look.  Some ligules are pointed, some are rough edged, some very thin, some broad and easy to spot.  Some species have no ligule, or have a ligule which is reduced to a ring of hairs.

Sometimes the edges of the leaf blade cling to the culm and surround the ligule (as in the second illustration below); these structures are called auricles.

Ligule variety in different species of grasses

Inflorescence variety in Grasses

The flowering part of a grass plant is called the panicle, flowering spike, inflorescence or flower-head (many of these terms also apply to other families of plant, and botanists use them somewhat differently at times, which can be confusing). These flowering heads consists of lots of tiny grass flowers which are called spikelets.

Diagram showing flowering spike diversity in the Grasses family: Spreeading panicle, flowering spike, Raceme & Compact panicle

If the flowering spike is unbranched, with each individual spikelet attached to the central stem by a stem (or rachis) it’s known as a raceme (as with Rye grass Lolium perenne and Tor grass Brachypodium pinnatum).

Racemes: Tor grass Brachypodium pinnatum and Italian Rye grass Lolium multiflorum

Panicles often refer to grasses whose spikelets are borne at the end of stalks on a branching flowering head.  They show an enormous amount of variety both in individual plants (depending on the age and developmental stage of the plant), within species, and (obviously) between species.

Variety of panicle shape: Yorkshire Fog Holcus lanatus showing one panicle still within the sheath, one fully spread at maturity.

Some other grass species with spreading panicles include Cocksfoot Dactylis glomerata, Common bent Agrostis capillaris, and Wavy hair grass Deschampsia flexuosa.

Spreading panicles in Cocksfoot Dactylis glomerata, Common bent Agrostis capillaris, and Wavy hair grass Deschampsia flexuosa

Panicles can also be very compact, and look like one tight structure.  This is particularly true of the Meadow foxtail Alopecurus pratensis.

Tight panicle shown by Meadow foxtail Alopecurus pratensis

Some other grasses with tight panicles include Crested Dog’s tail Cynosurus cristatus, Twitch grass Alopecurus myosuroides, and the Foxtails.

Tight panicles shown by Crested Dog’s tail Cynosurus cristatus, Twitch grass Alopecurus myosuroides

Grass Spikelets

Each individual spikelet, or flower, is made of distinct parts.  The stalk of each flower is called the rachis, and flowers are arranged alternately, or in a zig-zag fashion along it.

The base of each spikelet, be it one or several distinct flowers, is held in a pair of glumes.  These paired glumes have distinct upper and lower glumes, and these structures are important in determining grass species.

The glumes may have bristles or spikes attached to them.  These are called awns, and can be long or short, bent or straight, twisted (as with many Oat Avenaspecies), or absent.

Diagram of an individual grass flower or spikelet

Inside the glumes is the floret, which is the stamens and styles of each flower enclosed by two further scales or bracts, the lemma and the palea.  You’re down to hand lens work now, but characteristics to look out for are nerves along the middle (or lack of nerves), awns (or lack of awns), hairiness or not, and colour.

Normally, there are three stamens bearing anthers per spikelet; these often hang out beyond the flower; look closely to find purple ones (Timothy grass and Meadow Foxtail), orange ones (Orange foxtail), white, or cream anthers (many of the Bromes). False oat grass Arrhenatherum elatius has bright yellow stamens.

False oat grass Arrhenatherum elatius with yellow stamens and Meadow Foxtail Alopocerus pratensis with purple ones

Tillers

Some grasses put out lateral shoots, sometimes at quite a distance from the main plant.  These are known as tillers, and grow from horizontal rhizomes, or root-like stems which grow along the ground.  Grasses can rapidly colonise new habitats with this vegetative form of growth.

Tiller and rhizomes, shown on the Rough meadow grass Poa trivialis

Identifying grasses species: Features to look out for

Habit and habitat

What area is the grass growing in?  Is the ground wet or dry?  Calcareous or acidic?  Disturbed?  What season is it?

What shape and height is the plant?  Is it erect, tufted, or droopy?  Likewise, are the panicles tight or drooping, compact or loose, many branched or not?

Does it have rhizomes and tillers?

Leaves

How long and how wide are the leaves?  Are they hairy or smooth? Flat or inrolled and bristle-like? What colour are they?

Ligules

Fold the leaf blade back from the stem and find the ligule.  Look for its size, shape, edge, presence…

Spikelet

How are these arranged on the stem?  How big are they?  What colour? What texture?

Spikelet parts

Compare the size of the 2 glume scales, the number of nerves, awns or not, hairy or not.  Are the palea and lemma  awned or not?  How many nerves do they have?

Spikelets of False oat grass Arrhenatherum elatius and Common Oat grass Avena fatua

If you’re interested in learning more about British and European grasses, there are some really good reference books out there.  The “bible” of grasses is C.E. Hubbard’s Grasses; Colour Identification to the Grasses, Sedges, Rushes and Ferns of the British Isles by Francis Rose, Collins Guide to the Grasses, Sedges, Rushes and Ferns of Britain and Northern Europe by Fitter, Fitter and Farrer. You could also take a look at Collins Flower Guide by Streeter although it’s rather arrogant of me to suggest this as the grasses plates were all completed by me (with a great deal of help from David Streeter!)

I hope you’ll give the grasses a chance, and end up loving them as much as I do,  their beauty and diversity is mind-boggling.

The post Grass: An introduction appeared first on Lizzie Harper.