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Queen of the night, Darwin's comet, lady's slipper, little dragon, black chimaera - the otherworldly names of orchid species are as beautiful as these sought-after flowers themselves.
From flamboyant and colourful to strange and understated, and from alpine meadows to cloud forests, the orchid's variety and range is unparallelled - and has made it an object of obsession to plant collectors for centuries. With over 250 stunning botanical illustrations and fascinating documents from the archives at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, The Orchid explores 40 different varieties of this evocative and elusive flower.
Lauren Gardiner is Curator of the Cambridge University Herbarium and a member of the RHS Orchid Committee. She previously worked at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, where she specialized in the conservation of Madagascan plants, including orchids and palms.
Phillip Cribb is a leading specialist on the taxonomy and conservation of orchids. He was Deputy Keeper of the Herbarium and Curator of the Orchid Herbarium at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, until his retirement in 2006.
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a world-famous centre for botanic knowledge. It holds one of the most diverse living orchid collections in the world, and the largest and most comprehensive orchid herbarium, with over 400,000 specimens preserved.