Here is a review published a while ago.
Hope that helps, Eric
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MSS for Orchid Digest
Sept 2007
BOOK REVIEW
WILD ORCHIDS IN MYANMAR
by Yoshitaka Tanaka, Ph.D. & Tin Tin Yee, vol. 3, 2007, AA The Foundation of Agricultural Development and Education, Bangkok; published by the Orchid Press, Hong Kong (
Orchid Press Publishing - Books on Asia - Services for the Bibliophile)
Hard cover, square quarto, bilingual (Japanese/English), pp. 108, 147 color photographs, US$##.
Myanmar (Burma) is one of the few remaining truly isolated corners of the world. Its remote location, highly restricted travel visas, and a Marxist political system repugnant to many, keep it off the proverbial beaten path. Tourism for westerners consists mostly of a set route exploring the country’s rich cultural history with little opportunity for orchid dallying. This series, now comprising three volumes, offers a rare glimpse into Myanmar and its largely untouched orchid wealth. The series is subtitled “Last Paradise of Wild Orchids” and volume 3 is specifically the “Shangri-La of Wild Orchids”. The bulk of the volume is devoted to Dendrobium with a secondary section on Vandas and their relatives. Volume 1 (2003) is entitled the “Highlight Edition” and volume 2 (2004) “A Poem of Wild Orchids”.
The great strengths of these volumes are the in situ photographs which far outnumber the typical pretty floral close-ups. I cannot stress how valuable these photographs are for growers attempting to keep these species in cultivation and to grow them to perfection. Seeing Dendrobium jenkinsii on a large tree trunk devoid of moss yet covered with lichens give many indications on how to treat it in cultivation. A large completely deciduous tree covered with tufts of Dendrobium capillipes – not an easy to grow species – immediately tells me that the plants should be moved in with Barkerias and other highlight, strong winter rest plants. Of course other photographs, like a tree all but hidden by Dendrobium suavissimum (≠ D. chrysotoxum), just makes one want to race to a travel agent for the next flight to Rangoon. And a magnificent specimen plant labeled Dendrobium primulinum (pp. 50-51) appears to be a natural hybrid (crystallinum x primulinum?) that puts most orchid breeder’s efforts to shame.
The chapter on Vandas and related species in the Shan States includes many plants of special interest. There are photographs of rare natural hybrids in Vanda including (coerulea x coerulescens) on page 84 (lower 2 photographs) and (bensonii x coerulea) on page 88 (as bensonii). The photograph labeled Vanda brunnea (p. 85) appears to be the first color image of the rare V. petersiana Schltr. with its mustache-like lip apex – a spectacular brown-flowered species with at least as much horticultural potential as its close relative V. denisoniana. Similarly of great interest is the photograph on the bottom of page 88 which represents V. denisoniana var. hebraica, an entity which may or may not be the same as V. brunnea, itself a taxonomically complex group of poorly known species.
Despite the flow of orchids from Myanmar across the border into Thailand, and their eventual export, there are a couple of vandaceous plants shown that have never made the journey to cultivation. One is a white-flowered Aerides rosea with just a few purple spots on the dorsal sepal and petals (p. 95. no. 2), similar to the irregular color patterns seen in Phalaenopsis tetraspis from Sumatra. A second is an unprecedented dark clone of Aerides falcata (p. 95, no. 3, as A. multiflora). I have had a special interest in vandaceous orchids for more than 35 years and studied Aerides for my doctorate, and this clone of A. falcata may be the singular finest vandaceous orchid I have ever seen.
There are other orchids figured including a small section on Paphiopedilum which compliments the earlier volumes. One of the most unusual species shown is an Eria (p. 104) in what is now sometimes treated as the segregate genus Conchidium, tiny leafless (when flowering) pseudobulbs each bearing a larger than life white and pink flower on a wiry inflorescence. The proportions resemble something blooming in an alpine scree more than a tropical epiphyte.
The other chapter of particular merit is on the protection and multiplication of wild orchids. Several Myanmar orchids, but especially species of Dendrobium, are used in traditional Chinese medicine. Plant hunters have decimated populations of Dendrobium collecting the entire plants including the root systems. One must understand that this trade – both legal and illegal – is enormous. The government of Myanmar has contracted with the Chinese government to export 1,000 tons of dried Dendrobium stems per year. Yes, that is 1,000 tons of dried stems, an astonishing amount. To help offset the effect on wild populations, the Ministery of Agriculture and Irrigation has established two propagation centers in Maymyo near Mandalay to distribute propagation stock to local farmers. Orchids are unusual among monocots in having many species with alkaloids, a class of chemicals that generally causes a physiological effect (e.g., caffeine, morphine, nicotine). Although the efficacy of these alkaloids has not been shown, Dendrobine (the alkaloid in Dendrobium) is used for “general debility, anorexia, flatulence, night sweats, tuberculosis, impotence and rheumatism”.
Not unexpectedly the authors document habitat destruction in general. In addition, they discuss the sale of wild plants by local flower shops. They note personally observing the local disappearance of orchids and that flowering plants are now collected by ethnic minorities and carried a distance of 2-3 days’ walk to market. Sadly, even those distant populations are in decline from over collection.
Perhaps the saddest update is the destruction of a large colony of Paphiopedilum bellatulum shown in volume 1. The plants looked for all the world like oversized Easter baskets full of round egg-like blossoms with each plant bearing 6-8 flowers in perfection. In this case, an encroaching village allowed cattle to graze on the shrubs that tempered the climate at ground level. The resulting increase in light burned the orchids and destroyed the colony. The authors aptly summarize the situation: “Outsiders cannot mention anything about conservation and importance of the wild orchids and the plant hunters collect the orchids and sell them. The village has no electricity, gas or tap water. Programs for plant protection are a luxury of the developed countries; the villagers do not, and do not want to, understand this concept. Their main concern is how to buy food and other basic necessities of daily life”.
The Wild Orchids of Myanmar will be of enormous value to anyone who grows orchids from southeast Asia. All three volumes are still available and a fourth volume is in the pipeline. These volumes harken back to a time before television, before computers, when intrepid explorers wrote travelogues of distant lands that stirred ones imagination. Myanmar still captures the imagination and fascinates.
Eric Christenson
4503 21st Ave. West
Bradenton, FL 34209
E-mail:
orchideric@juno.com
Orchids of Myanmar Vols. 1,2,3 reference query
Linear Mode
