Teuscher, a great orchid fancier!

Have you heard of Henry Teuscher (1891-1984)? He was a horticulturist and landscape architect. In fact, he designed the Montréal Botanical Garden before being named its first superintendent. With his boundless enthusiasm for orchids, he started the Garden’s orchid collection. He was rewarded for his work by having a genus of orchids, Teuscheria, named after him.

The orchid collection

The orchid collection is one of the Montréal Botanical Garden's largest and most significant, both in terms of its size and popularity. It contains close to 4,000 specimens, representing only 276 of the 750 known genera.

Lifting the veil

Orchid roots are covered in a veil, called the velamen, made up of several layers of sponge-like cells. It is very useful, playing a variety of roles. When there is lots of water available, it fills up with moisture that the plant can use if conditions change. If the plant comes into contact with tree bark, the velamen cells become sticky, allowing the orchid to cling to its host.