The secret world of orchids
Chapter 1
Visual tricksters of the meadow
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Chapter 2
Perfume traps and chemical forgery
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Chapter 3
The dark side of food fraud
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Chapter 4
Underground alliances and fungal friendships
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YOUR GOAL
Master of The secret world of orchids
Ch 4 · Underground alliances and fungal friendships
teacher I'm a microscopic seed with no food at all, but the mycelium feeds me through the dark.
Fun Fact
Million-seed club: A single orchid seed pod can contain up to 4 million individual seeds, the most of any plant group.
Glossary
mycorrhiza (noun)
A symbiotic association between a fungus and the roots of a vascular plant. German botanist Albert Frank coined the term in 1885, explaining how orchid seeds obtain fungal nutrients.
A symbiotic association between a fungus and the roots of a vascular plant. German botanist Albert Frank coined the term in 1885, explaining how orchid seeds obtain fungal nutrients.
Quiz
What does a green orchid eventually do for its fungal partner once it grows leaves?
Quiz
Which rare European orchid has no green leaves and lives almost entirely underground?