I just finished reading the book I got for xmas and can warmly recommend it to orchid lovers as well as their more skeptical friends. The author tells of his experiences when meeting various orchid fanatics around the world, one chapter per person. Some chapters are a little drier than others and he really goes off on the whacked out CITES laws (but who can blame him), but the book is very engaging and sometimes funny enough that I laughed out loud.
The book is called “Orchid Fever: A Horticultural Tale of Love, Lust, and Lunacy” by Eric Hansen. Hansen’s writing style is captivating and wonderfully illustrated with an endless stream of weird or wonderful orchid fanatics from all over the world, such as the “large man with fleshy lips who told me that if I licked the mealy-coated callus of Maxillania huebschii, my tongue would go numb.” But one of my favorite passages is when he describes the flower of a Magic Lantern… it comes pretty close to pure orchid pornography… so enjoy… smoke ’em if you got ’em… then go and get the book!
“A Bodice ripper! Eleanor exclaimed as she gestured to Magic Lantern, a luscious, pink-purple hybrid of two Asian species, Paphiopedilum micranthum and P. delenatii. Bodice ripper? I took a closer look at the flower. The shiny candy-apple red staminode that covered the reproductive organs was shaped like an extended tongue identical to the Rolling Stones logo. This shocking red protrusion nestled in the cleavage of two blushing petals then dropped down as if to lick the tip of an inverted pouch that looked like the head of an engorged penis. The blatant carnality of Magic Lantern was unmistakable and I found myself wondering what sort of impression the flower was making on the old woman.”
