A history of the orchid,

by Merle A. Reinikka

The intriguing adventures of orchid hunters and the early attempts at orchid identification and classification are described in the pages of Merle A. Reinikka's A History of the Orchid. Part I of this book offers a glimpse of the important dates, names, and incidents relevant to the historical role of orchids from ancient times to the recent past. Part II offers biographical sketches of more than 50 sigificant figures in orchid history and their contributions to the field. First published in 1972, A History of the Orchid is back with additions to the excellent bibliography and updated nomenclature supplied with the expert help of Robert L. Dressler and Gustavo A. Romero. The first book to bring to public attention the lives of orchid hunters and the myths and mysteries of their beloved plants is now available to a new generation of orchid lovers. Both amateurs and longtime orchid enthusiasts will be thrilled with the return of this book.

Genres: Nonfiction, Nature

316 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1995

Reviews

[Jim Gallen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read “A History of the Orchid” in preparation for a book club meeting. The first third of it narrates the historical development of the orchid. Their emergence as biological entities, increasing interest, classification, its commercial rise and scientific development tell the story how orchids became the popular flower that they are today. The last two-thirds consists of brief biographies of man (Yes, no women) whose played key roles in orchid history.

For someone who is really into orchids, their types, names, origins and discoverers this work would be a gold mine. Not being an orchidologist, many of these pages were blurs. What I found of interest was confirmation of my impression that much of nineteenth century science consisted in the identification of and differentiation among species. The dominance of British, German and Low Countries’ orchidologists reflects an era in which the United States was a follower rather than a leader. The only scientist’s name that I recognized was Charles Darwin. 305 pages is a long read for what I got out of it.

[Dyan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Approximately two thirds of the book is just biographies of persons influential in the history of orchids. This is not exactly what was "advertised" by the book, and I found it boring and repetitive. The first third is mostly a botanical/biological history of orchids rather than a cultural/social history, which was admittedly what I was hoping for. Overall it was just "eh".