Gold Blooms of Kinabalu
By tony leather, 9th Jun 2012 | Follow this author
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Posted in WikinutNewsEnvironment
These blooms, known as Gold Of Kinabalu eround the world, are actually examples of the endangered and extremely rare Rothschild’s slipper orchid, so-called after the discoverer
Gold Blooms of Kinabalu
If you could choose to give the love of your life the most precious of gifts, you could hardly do better than present her with this exquisite orchid, found only in one area on the slopes of Mount Kinabalu, in Malaysia. Within the World Heritage Site Kinabalu National Park, these incredibly expensive orchids are jealously guarded.
Blooms 2
Small wonder, because these blooms, known as Gold Of Kinabalu eround the world, are actually examples of the endangered and extremely rare Rothschild’s slipper orchid, so-called after the discoverer. Paphiopedilum rothschildianu, to give it the latin name, also referred to as King of the Paphs, can cost as much as $5,000 for a single bloom, on the stem.
Blooms 3
This highly endangered species of orchid is so rare because it can take up to 15 years before they produce blooms, amazingly beautiful flowers, that feature brag green petals with red spots, upper and lower petals looking striped, from a distance. Two side petals are extremely long and dangly, the thin stem holding up to six flowers horizontally, making them appear much bigger than they actually are. Leaves are semi-translucent, the plant thriving on plenty of water and high humidity levels.
Blooms 4
Golo of Kinabalu orchids reproduce by attracting insects to lay eggs on flower petals, the spots on the plants appearing as aphids to other, predatory insects, which get covered in pollen through landing on the plants, which, like exotic orchid cousins, imitates insects for pollen transfer between plants.
Blooms 5
This World Heritage Site National park contains at least five species of slipper orchid, as well as ten kinds of insect-eating pitcher plants, including the enormous Nepenthes raja variety, that can contain 3.5 liters of water within it, and the so-called rotting-corpse flower, the Rafflesia, which with flower petals 28in long, is amongst the largest blooms in the world, though none are as exotic and precious as the orchid known affectionately as the Gold of Kinabalu.
Nowadays, the variety and availability of orchids has meant them being largely affordable for everyone wanting to gift a special bloom to a loved one, but the At $5,000 per stem Rothschild, beautiful beyond words, is definitely reserved only for those who can afford it, but what an amazing gift they must be.
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