Orchids

The Orchid family is one of the largest families of flowering plants in the world, including about 28000 currently accepted species, distributed in about 763 genera. In China, about 1300 orchid species have been recorded. And most of these species are distributed in South and Southwest China.

Cypripedium franchetii

The Orchids are easily distinguished from other plants, as they share some very evident, shared derived characteristics, or "apomorphies". Among these is bilateral symmetry of the flower (zygomorphism), many resupinate flowers, a nearly always highly modified petal (labellum), fused stamens and carpels, and extremely small seeds. Though orchids are widely spread in the world, they are becoming more and more endangered because of habitat damage and over the collection.

Cypripedium flavum

As one of the provinces with the most orchid diversity in China, Sichuan has more than 440 orchid species and some groups such as slipper orchids are very rich in Sichuan. About 22 slipper orchids are found in Sichuan and some are endemic.