For serious neophytes

Orchids are amazing and varied plants -- beautiful, bizarre and incredibly collectible.

This lavish well-illustrated guide for serious neophyte orchid collectorsbegins with the basics of orchid biology, history, geography, conservation, collecting and judging. The second part details cultivation and care in various situations (hothouse, house or garden) and in pots, baskets or on mounts (as if the plant were attached to a rock or a tree), and gives tips on propagation from seed, cuttings, division and by tissue culture.

Part three, “The Orchid Directory,” reveals more than 400 orchids, each in fascinating detail and vivid color. Most are easy to grow, says the able author, given conditions that mimic their diverse natural habitats.

The book’s photos are superb. Its information is plentiful but never overwhelming -- and studded with such amusements as the meaning of plant names (Brassia honors English botanist William Brass; Laelia was one of the Vestal virgins). One is easily tempted to try a few: perhaps a frilly lavender Cattleya, a fragrant ghostly white Brassavola or a rare Bulbophyllum with brownish flowers that look “like little monsters.”

The orchid family is the largest in the plant world with about 20,000 different species. Alas, so many orchids, so little time.

-- Lili Singer