Synopses & Reviews
For biologists, 2009 was an epochal year: the bicentennial of Charles Darwinand#8217;s birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of a book now known simply as
The Origin of Species. But for many botanists, Darwinand#8217;s true legacy starts with the 1862 publication of another volume:
On the Various Contrivances by Which British and Foreign Orchids Are Fertilised by Insects and on the Good Effects of Intercrossing, or
Fertilisation of Orchids. This slim but detailed book with the improbably long title was the first in a series of plant studies by Darwin that continues to serve as a global exemplar in the field of evolutionary botany. In
Darwinand#8217;s Orchids, an international group of orchid biologists unites to celebrate and explore the continuum that stretches from Darwinand#8217;s groundbreaking orchid research to that of today.
Mirroring the structure of Fertilisation of Orchids, Darwinand#8217;s Orchids investigates flowers from Darwinand#8217;s home in England, through the southern hemisphere, and on to North America and China as it seeks to address a set of questions first put forward by Darwin himself: What pollinates this particular type of orchid? How does its pollination mechanism work? Will an orchid self-pollinate or is an insect or other animal vector required? And how has this orchidand#8217;s lineage changed over time? Diverse in their colors, forms, aromas, and pollination schemes, orchids have long been considered ideal models for the study of plant evolution and conservation. Looking to the past, present, and future of botany, Darwinand#8217;s Orchids will be a vital addition to this tradition.
Review
and#8220;Orchidophiles unite! This extraordinary volume inspires a rethinking about Darwin, orchids, and evolution. And even more, it reminds us not only that truth is stranger than fiction, but also that orchids have the most creative, complex, and convoluted contrivances associated with their sex lives!and#8221;
Review
and#8220;The ideas and themes behind Darwinand#8217;s Orchids are quite appropriate and significant. Basing almost every chapter on or with a takeoff from Darwinand#8217;s 1862/1877 books really is important. There have been several recent books which cover different aspects of Darwin and his works, including orchids, but this book has the strongest scholarly basis. Using the Darwin books as the foundation is brilliant.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;A fascinating book. Darwinand#8217;s Orchids will be a very valuable addition to the orchidological scientific literature.and#8221;
Review
andldquo;Darwinandrsquo;s Orchids is full of surprises: plants of the wonderfully named Dracula genus are pollinated by fungus gnats, attracted by a blob of tissue that looks and smells like the fungus on which they normally lay eggs; Orchis pauciflora puffs out the pheromones that bumblebee queens use to mark males, while Cryptostylis orchids mimic female wasps, transferring pollen when male wasps attempt to copulate with them. Many orchids have no nectar, effectively being just bigger and brighter versions of flowers, like violets, that do. There is also plenty about Darwin: the young explorer as well as the somewhat older man, fussing over specimens in his greenhouse. His orchid work and knowledge are given historical context, while those responsible, for our progress in understanding since then, like Swedish entomologist Bertil Kullenberg, also receive deserved attention. This book will delight all those who have ever paused in a garden centre and, gazing at some extraordinary orchid, wondered, andlsquo;Just what was evolution thinking?andrsquo; Well, now, to some degree, we seem to know. Darwin would surely have been amazed by all the progress outlined here, and fascinated by such a wealth of new knowledge.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;In the realm of plant evolutionary biology, the 1862 publication of Charles Darwinandrsquo;s book On the Various Contrivances by Which British and Foreign Orchids Are Fertilised by Insects marked the founding of a new subdiscipline focused on the evolution of natural systems for orchid pollination. Darwinandrsquo;s Orchids, edited by faculty members at Saint Louis University and the Missouri Botanical Garden, largely follows the order of Darwinandrsquo;s discussion but brings the topic up to date with the proceedings of two symposia held in Darwinandrsquo;s honor at the International Botanical Congress in Melbourne, Australia, in 2011. With nearly two dozen color photographs, meticulous indexing, and a helpful summary by the editors, this book opens a window onto the study of orchid ecology and evolution that will intrigue historians of science, Darwin fans, and orchid lovers everywhere.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Definitely a book not only for the exacting orchid enthusiast, but for evolutionary biologists and Darwinists. . . . This scientific tome into the sex life of orchids will capture the interest of the botanic ecologists and co-evolutionists.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;As . . . lab-oriented studies progress, the field-oriented research such as the studies in this volume will help to frame the truly interesting questions to be asked. This is a wonderful volume to have in your lab or library to hook a new generation of students on orchid biology.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Handsomely produced.andrdquo;
Review
andquot;Copiously illustrated, Darwinand#39;s Orchids includes an excellent overview of his orchid research and the origin and impact of the two editions. Subsequent chapters derive mainly from two symposia held in Melbourne in 2011. Paralleling chapters in Darwinand#39;s 1877 edition, this work presents fascinating and#39;then and nowand#39; stories. It also includes chapters on Thelymitra, briefly treated by Darwin, and on euglossine bee pollination, a phenomenon unknown to him, along with two concluding chapters discussing pollinator perception of floral color and impacts of changing climate on orchid flowering times. . . . Recommended.andquot;
Synopsis
E. J. H. Corner's perennial favorite, copiously stocked with now-classic botanical illustrations, is one of the most fascinating and original introductions to the world of plants ever produced. From the botanist to the amateur, no reader will finish this book without gaining a much richer understanding of plants, their history, and their relationship with the environments around them.
Synopsis
Includes bibliographical references (p. 297-[303]).
Synopsis
In 2009, the world celebrated the bicentennial of the birth of Charles and the 150th anniversary of the first edition of a book now known simply as The Origin of Species (1859). But to many botanists, horticulturists, and plant conservationists, Darwinand#8217;s legacy starts with the publication of his plant books, the first editions of which appeared between 1862 and 1877. The first book Darwin published following On the Origin of Species interpreted the morphology and biomechanics of flowers in the orchid family. Why did he select these flowers as model systems to expand on such concepts as and#147;descent through modificationand#8221; and adaptation first addressed in On the Origin of Species?
We will likely never know for certain. Did Darwinand#8217;s early love of flowers in general predetermine a long-term, and unusually personal, inquiry on orchids decades later? In Darwinand#8217;s correspondence with his botany professor at Cambridge, there is not a single mention of orchids. And nor did the orchid species Darwin collected during his five years on the HMS Beagle evoke comments in Darwinand#8217;s recount of the voyage ; the word orchid is not found in the bookand#8217;s index. Darwin was unable to recognize the unique floral features of the Orchidaceae during this voyage, as one of the two and#147;orchidsand#8221; Darwin collected in Tierra del Fuego, and preserved in wine, turned out to be a Calceolaria.
Whatever the origins of his interest, we can be grateful that Darwin eventually wrote, and#147;I have been in the habit for twenty years of watching Orchidsand#133;and#8221;. His detailed research on orchids and resultant publications (1862, 1869, 1877) served and continues to serve as a global role model in the field of evolutionary botany for over 150 years. Consequently, scientists today are still asking some of the same questions Darwin asked: What pollinates this flower? How does the pollination mechanism work? Will a flower self-pollinate or is an insect vector required? How has this lineage changed over time?
Darwinand#8217;s Orchids unites an international authorship of orchid biologists to celebrate and explore the continuum from Darwinand#8217;s orchid research to that of today.
About the Author
Retha Edens-Meier is associate professor in the College of Education and Public Service at Saint Louis University and a research associate with the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis and the Kings Park and Botanic Garden in Perth, Western Australia. She is an authority on pollination ecology and plant breeding systems who specializes in rare and endangered plant species.Peter Bernhardt is professor of biology at Saint Louis University and a research associate with the Missouri Botanical Garden and the Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust in Sydney, Australia. He is the author of many books, including, most recently, Gods and Goddesses in the Garden: Greco-Roman Mythology and the Scientific Names of Plants.
Table of Contents
Preface
Peter Bernhardt and Retha Edens-Meier
and#160;
I.and#160; Darwin Shares His Orchids
1and#160; Darwinand#8217;s Orchids (1862, 1877): Origins, Development, and Impact
Peter Bernhardt and Retha Edens-Meier
and#160;
II.and#160; Darwinand#8217;s Orchids of the English and Eurasian Countrysides
2and#160; Darwin on the Pollination of Orchis: What He Taught Us and What We Can Tell Him Today
Giovanni Scopece, Salvatore Cozzolino, and Amots Dafni
3and#160; Ophrys Pollination: From Darwin to the Present Day
Nicolas J. Vereecken and Ana Francisco
and#160;
III.and#160; Darwin and His Colleagues: Orchid Evolution in the Southern Hemisphere
4and#160; Pollination of South African Orchids in the Context of Ecological Guilds and Evolutionary Syndromes
Steven D. Johnson
5and#160; Phylogeny of Orchidaceae Tribe Diurideae and Its Implications for the Evolution of Pollination Systems
Peter H. Weston, Andrew J. Perkins, James O. Indsto, and Mark A. Clements
Appendix 5.1: Morphological Character States Used to Construct a Phylogeny of the Diurideae
6and#160; Pollination of Spider Orchids (Caladenia syn. Arachnorchis) by Wasps . . . and Others: A Lingering Post-Darwinian Mystery
Sophie Petit
7and#160; The Sun Orchids (Thelymitra) Then and Now: Large Flowers versus Small Flowers and Their Evolutionary Implications
Retha Edens-Meier and Peter Bernhardt
and#160;
IV.and#160; Darwin and His Colleagues: Orchid Evolution in the Tropics
8and#160; Pollination Biology and Evolutionary History of Angraecoid Orchids: From Darwin to the Present Day
Claire Micheneau, Jacques Fournel, and Thierry Pailler
9and#160; Orchids and Neotropical Pollinators since Darwinand#8217;s Time
David W. Roubik
and#160;
V.and#160; Extravagant Architecture: The Diandrous Orchids
10and#160; Pollination and Floral Evolution of Slipper Orchids (Subfamily Cypripedioideae)
Retha Edens-Meier, Yi-bo Luo, Robert Pemberton, and Peter Bernhardt
and#160;
VI.and#160; Overview: The Influence of Color Perception and Climate Change
11and#160; Color and Sexual Deception in Orchids: Progress toward Understanding the Functions and Pollinator Perception of Floral Color
A. C. Gaskett
12and#160; Impacts of Extreme Weather Spells on Flowering Phenology of Wild Orchids in Guangxi, Southwestern China
Hong Liu, Chang-Lin Feng, Xiao-Qing Xie, Wuying Lin, Zheng-Hai Deng, Xin-Lian Wei, Shi-Yong Liu, and Yi-Bo Luo
and#160;
Summary
Retha Edens-Meier and Peter Bernhardt
and#160;
References
List of Contributors
Species Index
General Index