Orchids are plants with brightly coloured, unusually shaped flowers. Any of the 15,000-35,000 species in 400-800 genera of nonwoody perennial plants that make up the family Orchidaceae. Bearing attractive flowers, orchids grow in most of the nonpolar world, especially in tropical regions, in soil or on other plants. Hybrids with showy flowers for the commercial trade come from the genera Cattleya, Cymbidium, Vanda, and Laelia. Flowers vary widely in size, colour, and shape, but all are bilaterally symmetrical and have three sepals. Most orchids photosynthesize, but some live on dead organic material or absorb food from a fungus living in their roots. Vanilla is extracted from the seedpod of the genus Vanilla. Many folk medicines, local beverages, and foods are prepared from parts of orchid plants
Any of the many species of the family Orchidaceae, one of the most diverse of North Country plant families, represented in the Boundary Waters by some 32 species in 14 genera, some rare but others quite common
Member of the Orchidaceae family, which contains 835 genera of perennials, more than half epiphytic, the rest terrestrial They are characterised by their unique flower structure