darwin's orchid

angraecum veitchii --- this species was hybridized in england in 1899, but one of its parent species is

. . . best known within the botany community for its association with the naturalist Charles Darwin. After being sent several flowers of A. sesquipedale by James Bateman, Darwin noted the defining characteristic of the species, its extremely long spur. From his observations, Darwin surmised, in his 1862 publication On the various contrivances by which British and foreign orchids are fertilized by insects, and on the good effects of intercrossing, that there must be a pollinator moth with a proboscis long enough to reach the nectar at the end of the spur. . . . For some time after this prediction the notion of a pollinator with a 35 cm long proboscis was ridiculed and generally not believed to exist. . . . . In 1903, such a moth was discovered in Madagascar by Lionel Walter Rothschild and Karl Jordan. This confirmed Darwin's prediction.

all of which is purty awesome --- thanks, robert --- i hope i don't kill it