Cikgu Mahadiah Scribbles : Orchids are terrestrial and epiphytes..

..Everything about our school SESERI..., is about orchids..When the school started in 2003, it was planned that the orchids flowers will be the school identity.....And there are many species of orchids can be found along the corridors...around the school compound.....at that time...So colourful, so beautiful and so enchanting....But alas...its only lasted for about 3 years....When the first principal Pn Hjh S was transferred to SSP Cyberjaya...and came the new Principal Pn Hjh Z who didn’t fancy orchids so much....As a result...until now..we hardly see good orchids around......
I would suggest we start replanting all the orchids especially the species which bear Classes names such as :
Adioda,Bakerara,Cattleya,Dorisia,,Eliara,Fialaara,Gastisia,Helpilia....And even the Houses/Hostels’ names: Oncidium, Brassidium, Epidendrium and Dendrobium

..Epidendrium sp ...My House..

Brassidium sp
Oncidium sp
Dendrobium sp

Helpilia sp
Fialaara sp

Eliara sp
Dorisia sp

Cattleya sp
Bakerara sp

Adioda sp The orchid family, Orchidaceae, is the most numerous in the plant kingdom. There are about 25,000 to 30,000 known species of orchids around the world. Orchids are found in all continents except Antarctica, from hot tropical jungles to the cold climate in North America. However, some orchids are found only in certain region of the world and nowhere else, for example, the Vanda genus colonizes only South East Asia.

There are two types of orchids: terrestrial orchids and epiphytes. Terrestrial orchids, such as Cymbidium, grow on the ground, while epiphytes establish themselves on trees.

Most popular orchids grown today are hybrid species, creating by plant breeders in their hundreds of thousands. These "new" species may be the result of crossing two related species, or from three to four different genera.
Orchids are the most beautiful, the most sensual, the most exotic, and the most costly flowers.If you want to know more about orchids, please visit The American Orchid Society and The Orchid Lady.
http://www.flowerpictures.net/orchids/index.htm
www.orchids.mu/Glossary/Glossary_E.htm

And orchid which are epiphytes have characteristics as follows:
Epiphytic plants are plants which rely on other plants for support, growing on trunks and branches rather than rooting themselves to the ground

These plants are not parasitic: they do not derive any nutrients from their hosts.
Instead, they gather nutrients from the air or water around them, relying on their host to provide physical support in the form of a place to call home.

Epiphytic plants come in a wide array of shapes, sizes, and colors, all of which produce copious seeds to ensure that the plants continue to survive. Unlike plants on the ground, epiphytes cannot count on a high germination rate, as their seeds have to land in just the right spot.
In the rainforest, epiphytic plants collect in the forest canopy. Because they can grow up in the air, they can position themselves in a sunny location, putting them at an advantage over plants on the ground, which are heavily shaded.
Living in the canopy also gives epiphytic plants access to an array of animals and insects rarely seen near the ground, and to more water.
Many animals use epiphytes in the rainforest as habitats, living in the hollows created by their leaves.

Epiphytes can also be found in the ocean, attaching themselves to various seaweeds, and in temperate forests...Epiphytes are commensalism..