Millions of years ago, as dinosaurs roam the earth and primordial forests thrive, flowering plants were beginning to evolve and carpet the ground with their fascinating colors and sweet smelling scent. One of these floral plants was the orchid. As the earth begins to age and new species emerge, the orchid family continues to grow and expand to all regions of the world except Antarctica. People become fascinated with this exotic and unique plant, making orchid history very interesting.

It was the Japanese and Chinese drawings and literatures around 700 B.C. that described the importance of the orchid as an herbal cure for maladies and other illnesses. While dating back to the early Greeks, the history of orchids shows that this flower was once associated with virility of man, thus the name orchid originated from the Greek word “orchis” referring to word for testicle. Over the years, it has been a symbol of love, magnificence and beauty.

Moreover, in Greek times, they believe that an orchid can determine the sex of the unborn baby. If parents would like to have a son, the father would eat large tubers of the orchid. If they want a daughter, the expectant mother then eat the orchid’s small tubers. Orchid tubers are known as part of the plant-giving stored nutrients during the dry and winter periods. They never have actual records showing the correlation between the baby’s sex and the orchid eaten, nevertheless, the plant played an important role in their culture during that time.

Orchid history tells us how this flower was used as an aphrodisiac and a food ingredient such as ice cream. A Spanish conquistador named Cortez discovered the orchid among the Aztecs in Mexico in 1519. He was given a vanilla flavored cacao drink. Evidently, the natural vanilla extract came from the orchid Vanilla planifoli. The Aztecs were the first to cultivate the extract from the orchid to use as a drink, an aphrodisiac, healing herbs, and as well as perfume. Read the rest of this entry »