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Abstract
Dehiscence of a mature orchid fruit releases a multitude of seeds — more than a million per capsule in some species. Air currents carry the seeds, but few land on a site permitting germination; even fewer chance upon an environment suitable for development of a mature plant. The seed is microscopic and consists of the bare essentials: a seed coat modified for buoyancy, an embryo of from 8 to 100 cells, and, rarely, a small amount of undeveloped endosperm (2). All orchids require an external source of organic molecules for seed germination or seedling development. After germination, many exist for long periods, the entire life cycle in the case of true saprophytes, deriving carbohydrates and other organic molecules from exogenous sources. Various fungi, in mycorrhizal association with the orchid, provide these complex molecules.