Um olhar alternativo na contribuição de Darwin para a biologia da orquídea

(American Journal of Botany. 2009;96:2128-2154.)
doi: 10.3732/ajb.0900122
© 2009 Botanical Society of America, Inc.

Darwin Bicentennial Special Invited Paper

"The orchids have been a splendid sport"—an alternative look at Charles Darwin’s contribution to orchid biology1

Tim Wing Yam2,5, Joseph Arditti3,5 and Kenneth M. Cameron4,5
2 Singapore Botanic Gardens, Cluny Road, Singapore, Republic of Singapore 3 Department of Developmental and Cell Biology, University of California, Irvine, USA 4 Wisconsin State Herbarium & Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 USA

Received for publication 3 May 2009. Accepted for publication 14 September 2009.

ABSTRACT

Charles Darwin’s work with orchids and his thoughts about them are of great interest and not a little pride for those who are interested in these plants, but they are generally less well known than some of his other studies and ideas. Much has been published on what led to his other books and views. However, there is a paucity of information in the general literature on how Darwin’s orchid book came about. This review will describe how The Various Contrivances by Which Orchids Are Fertilised by Insects came into being and will discuss the taxonomy of the orchids he studied. It also will concentrate on some of the less well-known aspects of Darwin’s work and observations on orchids—namely, rostellum, seeds and their germination, pollination effects, and resupination—and their influence on subsequent investigators, plant physiology, and orchid science.

Key Words: discovery of auxin • Fritz Müller • John Murray • pollination effects • orchid flowers • orchid seeds • resupination • rostellum

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