Note 17 — Chapter V · EL RIO META

In Venezuela and Colombia the word parasita—parasite—is usually employed to designate all orchids, no matter what may be the species or genus. This is a mistake. Orchids are not parasites which, like the dodder or mistletoe, obtain their nourishment from the plant or tree on which they grow. They are epiphytes, that get their nourishment from the surrounding atmosphere, and use the branches and trunks of trees merely as supports or resting-places. The Old World genus Aërides is especially remarkable in this respect. One of the species, Aërides odoratum, “has this wonderful property, that, when brought from the woods, where it grows, into a house, and suspended in the air, it will grow, flourish and flower for many years without any nourishment, either from the earth or from water.” For this reason the orchid is appropriately called Flos aëris, or Air Flower. ↑