Singapore Botanic Gardens, Cluny Road, Singapore, Republic of Singapore.
Am J Bot. 2009 Dec;96(12):2128-54. doi: 10.3732/ajb.0900122.
Charles Darwin's work with orchids and his thoughts about them are of great interest and not a little pride for those who are interested in these plants, but they are generally less well known than some of his other studies and ideas. Much has been published on what led to his other books and views. However, there is a paucity of information in the general literature on how Darwin's orchid book came about. This review will describe how The Various Contrivances by Which Orchids Are Fertilised by Insects came into being and will discuss the taxonomy of the orchids he studied. It also will concentrate on some of the less well-known aspects of Darwin's work and observations on orchids-namely, rostellum, seeds and their germination, pollination effects, and resupination-and their influence on subsequent investigators, plant physiology, and orchid science.
查尔斯·达尔文对兰花的研究及其相关思想引起了众多对这些植物感兴趣的人们的关注和极大兴趣，但与他的其他一些研究和观点相比，这些思想的知名度通常较低。关于是什么导致了他的其他著作和观点，已经有很多出版物进行了探讨。然而，关于达尔文的兰花著作是如何产生的，一般文献中提供的信息却很少。本文将描述《通过昆虫传粉的兰花各种奇妙构造》一书的诞生过程，并讨论他所研究的兰花的分类学。本文还将重点介绍达尔文在兰花方面鲜为人知的一些工作和观察结果，即蕊喙、种子及其萌发、授粉效果和反转现象，以及它们对后来的研究者、植物生理学和兰花科学的影响。
