The flower exhibits are displayed in the whole area of the modern greenhouse called Fata Morgana. Visitors have a chance to learn a number of interesting things either from the thirty information boards or from trained guides, who hold free guided tours at weekends. They also have the unique opportunity to learn how orchids and bromelias grow in the wild, how many species have been described, what are their distinctive features, how well they adapt and most of all how they are bred.
Most elegant orchid in bloom
“The buds of one of our most elegant orchids – Lycaste lassioglossa, will most definitely open in the course of the exhibition“ promises the author of the exhibition Romana Rybková. This unique orchid has flowers up to 14 cm wide with open mostly cinamon colored sepals, little yellow petals and thick fringes of the same colour. Lycaste grows freely on the mossy slopes of mountains and in the foggy forests of the South Mexico, Salvador and Honduras.
Orchids named after a Czech botanists
A great part of the exhibition is dedicated to the Czech traveler, gardener and botanist Benedikt Roezl, originally from Horoměřice near Prague, who in 1854 set off to America to follow his dream. He settled down on the east coast of Mexico from where he used to set out on his collecting expeditions to the interior of Mexico. He brought home thousands of different kinds of plants, mostly orchids. After an unfortunate injury when he lost his arm, Roezl went across North and South America on horseback, by train, boat or on foot. He collected a variety of plants, seeds and tubers. Several orchids are named after the Czech botanists, e.g. Selenipedium roezlii.
For more information on the exhibition and the programme of the Botanical Garden, visit www.botanicka.cz.
