These exotic plants, orchids, confront strong environmental pressures due to their great beauty. They are parasitic plants, living off of other plants and trees. They spread their roots on them and obtain their nutrients that way. Their flowers are attractive not only because of their shapes, but because of their colors and the contrast they offer to the forest in the background. However, they can grow in just about any habitat. There are an infinite number of species, some growing almost 12 feet tall, while others are less than an inch long. They have a long life span, which is a disadvantage. The can take anywhere between 6 and 10 years to mature and make flowers, so this makes artificial reproduction difficult.

In spite of those difficulties, the Orchidacea are one of the largest families in the plant kingdom with close to 300,000 different species. Although the majority of these are found in tropical rainforests located at an altitude between 3000 and 9000 feet over sea level, orchids can be found from the tip of South America , Africa, Australia and the northern part of New Zealand, to the Artic Circle, and from the plains to the Alps. Many are terrestrial, in other words, rooted in the soil, while others are epiphytes, growing on the stems of other plants but not as parasites, and still other are lithophytes, growing on rocks.

In Mexico, they’re found all over the country, from the Pacific coast to the Gulf, and on up to over 11,000 feet above sea level. The greatest diversity in orchids is found in the states of Michoacan, Guerrero, Oaxaca, Veracruz and Chiapas, although every state has at least one species. Orchids were very important for our country’s ancient cultures. The Aztecs and Purepechas used the flowers for their rituals and religious ceremonies. The famous sugar cane paste Christs, famous around the world, are made with a Pre-Hispanic technique. They use a substance extracted from Michoacan orchids (Laelia speciosa, Laelia autumnalis and Encyclia citrina), to paste them together. Although the number of Mexican species is less than that of other countries such as Colombia, Ecuador, Peru or Brazil, Mexico has the greatest taxonomic information on its species. Miguel Angel Soto, an orchid specialist, found 1,106 species and subspecies in a study carried out in 1995. He concluded that 40 % of Mexican orchid species are in danger of extinction.

Cultivating orchids is no easy task because of the conditions required for their growth. That’s why most of the orchids found on the market are not as beautiful as wild ones are. They’re hybrids, crossed with other species so they can be cultivated more quickly. However, thanks to their great adaptability we can obtain 100,000 types of hybrid orchids with attractive qualities for people interested in their cultivation or for those that just want some beautiful flowers to decorate their home. It’s easy to see why the wild species are being exploited. The problem is that aside from being illegal, they are damaging the environment by deforestation.

Las Juntas y Los Veranos became famous due to the great amount of orchids found in that area. When Robert Price first went to the area, he decided to create a sanctuary. By 2005 he’d set up a non-profit organization to generate enough resources to create the Botanical Gardens that opened in 2005. “We’re trying to conserve the area, because Puerto Vallarta is growing so much. Many restaurants and other places know orchids, although they sometimes refer to them as irises, and they use them for their decoration. People pay a lot of money for one of these plants, and they’re taking them out of our jungles. We’re trying to show what this plant really represents and how important it is to the wildlife of the area”, said Jesus Reyes, one of the people in charge. The work carried out by the association has allowed them to identify 70 different species just in that area. Like Soto, however, they’ve found that about 40 % of these are in danger of extinction.

“The first stage is to have a large collection in order to conserve the 70 orchid species of the region. We decided to build a greenhouse, so that the orchids could have a better environment. The next step is to set up a lab so we can cultivate them”, said Reyes. They’ve set up an orchid club, which meets on the last Saturday of every month at 1:00 pm, and carry out classes that cover anything from their cultivation to legislation to protect them. The group also promotes research and is building an Environmental Management Unit, to get government support, not only for the protection of orchids, but for the protection of cacao and coffee plants also.

Now, running a botanical garden requires resources, so the not-for-profit is in charge of fund raising with the help of volunteers. There is also a restaurant on the grounds, part of a different business that generates income. Other income is generated by taking visitors on walks through the area. They charge $30.- pesos per person.

“We’re looking for ways to stay afloat, so we’re also selling orchids. These are orchids we bring in from Mexico City, where they’re cultivated in a lab there. What we’re trying to do is to have people buy orchids from places that don’t damage the forests and receive sales receipts to prove it”, he says. “We’ve been at it for four years and it hasn’t been easy. However, our efforts have produced some results. We’ve been able to get the orchids to grow near the paths and in the greenhouse and we’ve seen greater growth in the forest,” he concluded.

Lots of Flavor

One of the best known flavors around the world comes from an orchid. It’s vanilla, a purely Mexican plant, subject of much research at the Puerto Vallarta Botanical Gardens.
“We want to create the greatest exhibit of Mexican vanilla on the Pacific coast. At the moment we have three species, uniflora and pompolia, which are local, and planifolia. Right now the pods are very small still, but hopefully we’ll get them to mature in about a year and a half”, explained Jesus Reyes.

This genus comprises over a hundred monopodial climbing plants that can reach a height of 100 feet with alternating leaves going up the entire length. Vanilla leaves are usually short, oblong, dark green and leathery, although some species have meatier leaves. However, there are numerous species whose leaves have become scales or that don’t have leaves any longer. They use their creeping stems for photosynthesis. They have long and strong aerial roots growing from each node. Their flowers don’t last very long and come out at the peduncle of the leaves or scales. Each bundle can contain up to 100 flowers, but they usually don’t have more than 20. They’re large and very attractive, mostly sweet smelling. They have 6 petals and are usually white, green, yellow or cream colored. Each flower opens at dawn and closes at dusk, so pollination has to occur in that period or else the flower dies.

The vanilla fruit is a long, meaty seed in the form of a pod. It takes between 8 and 9 months to mature after flowering, turning black over time and emitting a strong aroma. Each pod has thousands of tiny seeds, but it’s the pod itself that‘s used for flavor. The planifolia vanilla is the only orchid used industrially. “Vanilla was taken to Asian countries by the Spaniards on the Nao de China (Chinese Ship). Nowadays, those countries are major producers while Mexico has lapsed to third place”, he said.

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