The Seed and Seedling

Abstract

Orchids are notorious for the prodigality of their tiny seeds. Over a hundred years ago Darwin recorded an average of more than six thousand seeds in the capsule of a small British orchid, and reported another botanist’s count of nearly two million in a Maxillaria from South America. The record seems to be held by another South American species, of the genus Cycnoches, which was reported by Rolfe, in 1909, to contain 3,770,000 seeds in a single capsule. Reliable counts of seed number in African orchid capsules are not available, but casual observations, in the field and laboratory, have indicated that plants in this continent are just as prolific as elsewhere.