ORNAMENTAL CHARACTERISTICS OF WILD ORCHIDS THEIR PROPAGATION WITH COMMERCIAL PURPOSES AND ALTERNATIVE OF ex situ EXPLOITATION

Abstract

The current demand for new native flower products, improved or in their wild state, as well as the opportunities for their trade, must be taken advantage of, opening the possibility of ex situ conservation of phytogenetic resources. The introduction of wild orchids (Orchidaceae) to massive cultivation is an important challenge, given that their management in greenhouse alters their growth pattern and flowering behavior, due to intraspecific genetic variability. The characteristics that tend to be evaluated in plants with ornamental purposes are related, with the inflorescence: length, number and size of flowers, life of the flower, in addition to the plant architecture, in which the size of the leaf and pseudobulb is considered, and the management in pot, among others. Results from research and diffusion of the use of wild orchid species as ornamental plants are presented, as a challenge and opportunity for conservation.