Do True Blue Orchids Actually Exist?
Cleisocentron Merrillianum (photo credit: chipmunk_1, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
At some point, you’ve probably seen radiantly blue orchids in stores or online. They’re sometimes marketed as “sapphire orchids,” and unsuspecting or new orchid enthusiasts often fall for the ploy. After all, many of the 28,000 existing orchid species sport colors far beyond the crayon box. But similar to some hair colors (including my own), the bright blue of a sapphire orchid comes from dye.
Florists and other sellers hope that a plant purchaser will be so dazzled by the unexpected color of the blooms that they won’t think to ask themselves whether it’s natural. Inserting color into an already beautiful flower would never occur to me, so it probably doesn’t occur to many other people either. Sapphire orchids are actually white phalaenopsis orchids that have been dyed.
Dyed blue orchid (photo credit: Slices of Light via Flickr)
The dye has to be carefully formulated so it doesn’t harm the orchid. That means it’s “food-grade,” the type and quality a cake maker might use for ocean-colored frosting. After the orchid’s buds have just begun to open, the dye is injected at the bottom of the flower spike. Water then carries the dye up the stem and into the flowers, resulting in their blue color. All of the blooms on the injected stem will turn blue.
Here’s where things get disappointing for some owners. After lots of patience and care, the sapphire orchid starts to spike and bud. But this time, the blooms are white. Just as my hair grows in brown regardless of whether I dye the rest orange or pink or green, new flowers carry the plant’s original color.
Common bluebell flower (photo credit: Michael Maggs, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia)
But why blue dye in the first place? Because it’s rare. Blue happens to be an unusual color for flowers. Of all of the flowering plant species out there, only 10% produce blue blooms. According to plant biologist David Lee, “There is no true blue pigment in plants, so plants don’t have a direct way of making a blue color.” Scientists have been studying naturally blue-hued plants like the bluebell to figure out how to genetically engineer other plants to be blue.
I could only find one type of naturally blue orchid. It’s the Cleisocentron Merrillianum, the blooms of which are the light blue of veins or robins’ eggs.
Cleisocentron Merrillianum (photo credit: chipmunk_1, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
This rare orchid is found only in the northeast part of Borneo, where it grows in moist, mountainous forests that range in temperatures. Because of that, it’s more tolerant to “extreme” (40-90 degrees F) temperatures, though 60-70 is ideal. It’s epiphytic and often grows near the tree tops where it gets anywhere from mostly shade to consistent indirect bright light. In keeping with its native habitat, it prefers high humidity and frequent watering (2-3 times a week), and to mostly but not completely dry out between waterings.
These orchids may not have the vibrancy of the dyed ones, but I think they’re even more beautiful. The pale shade of the blue matches the small, delicate flowers and gives the plant an otherworldly look, like it too could be fake. But this one’s the real deal.
