By Marc Hauchadourian
Curator of Glasshouse Collections
In the cold, damp days of March 2005, a dozen battered cardboard boxes were lifted from a van and placed in the propagation greenhouses. USDA inspection officials informed us that in these boxes were a staggering 1,000 orchid plants seized at the border in Miami, being smuggled in without proper documentation in violation of CITES (the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species.) On opening the first box, the smells of rotting plants and stale, moist air started to fill the greenhouse. While unpacking and sorting the plants by their estimated chances of survival, we uncovered a large root ball just visible under a pile of smaller plants. We pulled it out carefully and discovered a true treasure. Its leafy branches, nearly six feet long and as thick as your wrist, had been bent and twisted to fit into the confines of the box. Apparently, the root ball had been hacked apart by a machete and cut away from the tree trunk on which it was growing. We spread the plant out on a greenhouse bench: There, seemingly near death, lay a small specimen of Grammatophyllum speciosum.
A gigantic ephiphytic orchid native to New Guinea, Indonesia, and Malaysia, Grammatophyllum speciosum grows in large trees in warm lowland rain forests. It is considered to be the world’s largest orchid and can grow to enormous proportions, with branches reaching almost 10 feet and old specimens weighing over a ton. The flower spike arching up from the plant can be nearly 12 feet long and can bear hundreds of maroon-spotted yellow flowers. Over time the plant produces a massive tangle of roots that catch falling debris, effectively creating a compost pile at the base of the plant to help supply nutrients.
We gently potted the plant and pruned its broken leaves and stems to help prevent the spread of disease. All that could be done was to be patient and hope for the best. With the onset of hot, humid summer days the sleeping giant began to stir, and by the end of the summer the plant was growing in seven directions. The plant has continued to grow vigorously, producing several new growths. It seems very happy in its new home in the Nolen Greenhouses for Living Collections, hung where it can stretch out and enjoy the unimpeded sunlight above the other plants. Rescued from almost certain death, the sleeping giant may soon reward our efforts by gracing us with flowers.
Come see a Grammatophyllum speciosum on display in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory during The Orchid Show.
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