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Tom Hart Dyke was kidnapped in 2000 by guerrillas and held hostage for nine months. He had been hunting for orchids in the jungles of Colombia. Travel back to the jungle with Tom to understand his fascination with the seductive power of orchids.

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00:00They are among the oldest flowering plants on earth.
00:09They outlived the dinosaurs and may outlive us.
00:16There's more than 25,000 species.
00:21But what is it about orchids that inflames human passions?
00:29Nothing in science can account for the way people feel about orchids.
00:34Orchids arouse passion more than romance.
00:36They are the sexiest flowers on earth.
00:41What is the mystery behind the orchid's power of seduction?
00:54Over the last three centuries, dozens of people have died while hunting them.
01:02And this man came within an inch of joining them.
01:07I went into Central America, my friend Paul, looking for orchids and looking for a whole array of plants.
01:17While in the jungles of Columbia, he and his friend were kidnapped by terrorists.
01:23It was like I've never been on death row.
01:27Track record in the past if there's no ransom.
01:30And that's the end of it, isn't it?
01:34Then, after nine months of captivity...
01:37Christmas arrived a few days early as the former hostages were reunited with their families...
01:45Two had been searching for rare orchids in a particularly dangerous area of jungle between Columbia and Panama.
01:51Hostage taking is practically an industry here.
01:54It was scary. It was hilarious. It was things I've never felt before.
02:06Now, safely home on his family's estate in England.
02:10You would think he's had enough botanical adventure.
02:14But only 14 months since his release, Tom Hart Dyke has returned to the jungle.
02:25If I can find a species of orchids, it's as good as this, but new or better.
02:30It really is worth risking everything to see these beautiful flowers. It really is good.
02:39What could possess a man to risk his life for a flower?
02:43Orchid Hunter. Up next, on NOVA.
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04:00A member of an eccentric community that dates back to the Victorian era.
04:13Tom Hart Dyke is an orchidophile.
04:16An orchid fanatic.
04:17.
04:22For two years he traveled the world hunting for orchids.
04:27And then was captured by gorillas in Colombia.
04:30And held hostage for nine months.
04:35Since his release he spent almost all his time at orchid fairs.
04:39And in the greenhouses on his family estate.
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05:21In his 1939 book, The Orchid Hunters, Norman MacDonald wrote,
05:25When a man falls in love with orchids, he'll do anything to possess the one he wants.
05:31It's like chasing a green-eyed woman or taking cocaine.
05:35It's a sort of madness.
05:39Collecting orchids is a kind of love sickness.
05:43It is excruciating.
05:47And you can't ever feel that you've known every orchid that can be known, because there are so many.
05:56They are the largest family of plants on Earth, with over 25,000 species that come in all shapes and sizes.
06:05One species looks just like a German shepherd dog with its tongue sticking out.
06:10One species looks like an onion.
06:12One looks like an octopus.
06:15One looks like a human nose.
06:17One looks like the kind of fancy shoes that a king might wear.
06:21One looks like Mickey Mouse.
06:23One looks like a monkey.
06:25One looks dead.
06:31Most share a few key characteristics that distinguish them from other flowers.
06:36Orchids can only be cut symmetrically in one direction.
06:42They're called zygomorphic.
06:45Other flowers, like daisies, are symmetrical no matter how you slice it.
06:50Most plants get their nutrients and moisture from the soil in which they grow.
06:55But many orchids, hanging high on trees, get most everything they need from the sun, the air, and rain.
07:02They're called epiphytes.
07:06One of the most unusual features of orchids is that their male and female reproductive parts are fused into a single structure called the column.
07:16Other flowers, like lilies, have separate male stamens surrounding a female pistil.
07:23But perhaps the thing that distinguishes orchids most is the passion they arouse in people.
07:32It's a passion that generates a $10 billion a year industry.
07:37Many people attend orchid fairs just to smell the flowers.
07:40But when an individual prize orchid can fetch up to $25,000, you can bet some people come to compete.
07:49Orchid judging began when the first orchid hunters brought exotic plants home to 19th century Victorian England.
07:58Since then, exacting standards have been set.
08:01Dorsal sepal wide, 1.2.
08:04Orchid judges, like these at the American Orchid Society, spend years in training.
08:14They've got to know the lineage of any individual contender and compare how it measures up against past award winners.
08:22Here, we're getting a little more ruffling on the edges of this, this awarded clone.
08:26They touch and talk.
08:29If you go to the oriental standard, it's sort of polite that the petals are concealing the reproductive parts of the flower.
08:34And they actually grade that higher.
08:38And then, tally the score.
08:40Judges, we've got scores that range, well, we have two at 76, one at 77, and Arlene, is that a 70?
08:4878.
08:4978.
08:50Any orchid worthy of a prize has to be meticulously described.
08:55To begin with, as far as our description, the obvious is that we have a plant with two erect infuorescences with the flowers well held on the infuorescence.
09:08Petals creamy white, lip creamy white, crest, column, and anther cap pale lemon color.
09:15The winning orchid becomes the new orchid to beat.
09:22But win or lose, the fairs and contests incite the passion of orchid lovers everywhere.
09:28It's a passion called orchid fever.
09:33Tom, an amateur horticulturalist, has a bad case of it.
09:37He caught it growing up on his family estate, mainly from his grandmother.
09:49Now, Tom's orchid fever and a burgeoning desire to pay tribute to his grandmother are about to combust into a dangerous mission.
10:00Tom's going back into the jungle to find a new species of orchid to name after her.
10:05One thing about it, she hasn't a clue about it.
10:10She, not a hint.
10:12I haven't mentioned it.
10:14It'd be nice not to tell her until it's actually done.
10:16It'd be quite, it'd be quite nice, wouldn't it?
10:21If he's successful, his grandmother will join the ranks of many illustrious people.
10:26There was an official registry for orchids practically from the time Victorians began collecting them.
10:36And the tradition of naming them has continued even now.
10:40And there are orchids named after well-known people.
10:44There's a Richard Nixon orchid, a Jacqueline Onassis orchid, there's an Elizabeth Taylor orchid, there is a, I believe, a Barbara Bush orchid, and who knows, there might even be a Susan Orlean orchid.
11:00Finding a new species of orchid to name after Tom's grandmother is not going to be easy.
11:12Over the last 200 years, there aren't many places that orchid hunters haven't been.
11:18This is Dendrobium viratropholium, which was collected by Mr. Hines in New Guinea in 1841.
11:24But Tom's research has come up with Papua New Guinea.
11:28At Kew Gardens, the world's oldest orchid conservatory, Jeff Wood, a leading authority on Southeast Asian orchids, agrees.
11:38You have a vast range of ecological niches, ranging from the coastal mangrove in the south up to the central highlands.
11:45It's not an easy country to go and find orchids in, because you make a wrong turning, you could end up as tomorrow's lunch.
11:51You know, there's still head-unders there, there's dangerous areas there.
11:56I know that it's got its political problems, I know there's a lot of guerrilla activity there,
12:00I know that the terrain is terrible, and the diseases are rife, but that's why it's such a good place to go.
12:07If you want to find a new species of orchid, you've got to go to places that are dangerous, because no-one else goes there.
12:14Tom's mission takes him to Jayapura, on the western half of New Guinea.
12:25Before he goes into the jungle, he needs to find a guide, and since orchids are protected under CITES,
12:39the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, Tom's guide will need a permit to collect orchids.
12:46Pak Agus works at the forestry department, and like Tom, is mad about orchids.
12:55He suggests that they head to the Ballium Valley, a place renowned for wild orchids.
13:03But it must be said that a botanical party in that area was recently held hostage for four months,
13:09and two of their members were beheaded before the Indonesian army could rescue them.
13:16This is not a safe place.
13:21So, Tom enlists the support of Hungarian-born anthropologist, Cal Muller,
13:26who's lived on the island for the past ten years.
13:32Still the easy point. We've got two days walking coming up.
13:36This is tiring enough, Cal.
13:38Bum bruising stuff.
13:40At the end of the day, I know my girl. I know I'll see some orchids at the end of it.
13:44The grandmother of all our kids. That's what they're after.
13:47That's right. The bigger the better. Impress my gran. Come on.
13:55Cal is taking them on a two-day march from where the road ends.
13:59There, they'll find the last settlement before undisturbed primary cloud forests.
14:04But once again, there's potential danger.
14:08The Dany tribesmen are headhunters, although the last reported incident was in 1974.
14:16Nevertheless, Tom is eager to hunt orchids, and quickly gets out his books
14:21to see if Kayu, the chief's son, and the village elders, can guide him.
14:29The basic problem is, since these are orchids which they see, but they don't really use,
14:37the flowers are kind of similar to them.
14:39They're very different to you, but they're similar to them.
14:41The Dany may be hunters, but hunting orchids isn't quite their game.
14:49They still agreed to take Tom deep into the jungle, tomorrow.
14:58Orchid hunting hasn't really changed over the last 200 years,
15:03and orchid hunters haven't really changed.
15:04You have to be brave, you have to be somewhat foolish.
15:10You also have to be passionate, and dedicated to finding something that,
15:16unlike diamond, or gold, or oil, it's not going to make you rich.
15:21It may not make you famous.
15:23Finding a rare orchid may get you, at best, a botanical footnote.
15:28The next morning, after breakfast,
15:37for the first time since he was released by the kidnappers 14 months ago,
15:42Tom is back in the jungle, hunting for orchids.
15:58I strongly feel that one of the main reasons
16:15why we were released from Columbia
16:17is because I drove my captors completely around the bend.
16:21I was out of control.
16:22It didn't matter that they had lots of guns.
16:25Orchids were there.
16:25But once the commandant team gave the go-ahead for me
16:29just to collect on my own, game over,
16:31it was an orchid frenzy.
16:32The camp fell apart.
16:35At the end of it, they really wanted to get rid of us.
16:38They couldn't face another orchid again.
16:39Within a couple hours,
16:51Tom demonstrates the same behavior
16:53that drove his Colombian kidnappers crazy.
16:56Cow!
17:00You see the orchid there, cow?
17:02No.
17:02To the right of the fern.
17:04The fern's everywhere.
17:06The feed clump of fern here.
17:07Okay, okay, okay.
17:08There's a gleam coming down there.
17:10Yeah, yeah, I got it, got it.
17:11Do you fancy cutting it coming along?
17:14We've got ropes and things.
17:15It's not too bad.
17:16No.
17:17Why not?
17:17Isn't it a flower?
17:19You're crazy.
17:20Okay.
17:20I'm an old man.
17:21You're young.
17:22Go for it.
17:23Excellent.
17:23Good choice.
17:24I will.
17:26No one on the rope from England
17:28or anywhere around the world
17:29has gone down that cliff race.
17:30I've got to go and risk it.
17:32I've risked my life to go and get it.
17:33We love it.
17:35It is higher than obviously you think.
17:38When you go over the edge
17:39and you look down there.
17:42Incredible.
17:43Some dendrobiums here.
17:45Take a closer look.
17:51Unfortunately,
17:52even the water won't save me
17:53in the position I'm in.
17:54If I fall down and hit a rock,
17:56you don't get bruised from this height.
17:58No chance.
17:59Oh, I've got it.
18:00I've got it.
18:00I've found it.
18:01I've found it.
18:01Right at the bottom of the branch.
18:03I've got it.
18:05I'm going to check in
18:06and have a good sniff of it.
18:11I'm checking fragrance.
18:12Fragrance check.
18:13There is no fragrance.
18:15There is no...
18:17Wait a minute.
18:17Third fragrance check.
18:19I've got moss check.
18:21Moss is covering mouth.
18:22My blood's going to my head
18:24because I'm frigging upside down.
18:29If I can find a species of orchids,
18:31it's as good as this.
18:32But new.
18:33Or better.
18:34And new.
18:35Wow.
18:35We're straight down that cliff face.
18:37Straight down that waterfall.
18:39It really is worth risking everything
18:40to see these beautiful flowers.
18:41It really is good.
18:44Crazy thing to do,
18:45but if you like flowers,
18:48I guess,
18:48if you're in love with flowers,
18:50maybe,
18:50but I wouldn't do it.
18:51Not for a flower.
18:54But Tom would.
18:56For a flower named
18:57Dendrobium lausii.
19:00Pretty,
19:00with its hanging,
19:01bell-like flowers,
19:03and much sought after,
19:04but definitely not
19:06a new species.
19:06In risking his life,
19:11Tom carries on
19:12a noble tradition.
19:14In 1901,
19:16eight orchid hunters
19:17went on an expedition
19:18to the Philippines.
19:20Within a month,
19:21one had been eaten
19:22by a tiger,
19:23another had been drenched
19:24with oil
19:25and burned alive,
19:27five vanished
19:28into thin air,
19:29and one managed
19:31to stay alive
19:32and walk out of the woods
19:33carrying 47,000
19:35phalaenopsis orchid plants.
19:41But if you're not
19:42inclined to risk your life,
19:44and you still want
19:4547,000 orchid plants,
19:47it may be safer
19:48to make an expedition
19:49to your local
19:50warehouse superstore.
19:53Unlike the 1880s,
19:55when orchid collecting
19:56was the domain
19:57of the very wealthy,
19:59since the 1980s,
20:01the business of orchids
20:02has been transformed.
20:04Kerry Herndon
20:05doesn't just grow them.
20:06He mass-produces them
20:08in his orchid factory
20:09in Homestead, Florida.
20:11A friend of mine
20:13calls this obscene.
20:15There's just so many
20:17spectacular, beautiful
20:18orchids here.
20:20On every bench,
20:21there's 600 plants.
20:22The row is 100 benches long,
20:24so you've got 60,000
20:26blooming plants in a row,
20:27120,000 blooming plants
20:29in a bay,
20:31and there are 17 bays.
20:34That totals over
20:362 million blooming orchids,
20:38and then there's at least
20:40another 3 million orchids
20:41at different stages of growth.
20:43with more than 200 workers,
20:48an automated conveyor system,
20:52computer-controlled climate,
20:56nearly a million and a half
20:58square feet of greenhouses
21:00covering an area
21:01of five city blocks,
21:04and more than 5 million plants,
21:07this is one of the largest
21:10orchid factories on Earth.
21:14The seeds of the modern
21:16orchid industry in America
21:17were planted
21:18at the U.S. Department
21:20of Agriculture.
21:22In the 1980s,
21:23when Dr. Robert Greasbach
21:25started doing genetic research
21:27on orchids,
21:28orchids didn't even rank 100
21:30on the best-selling plant list.
21:33But by creating orchid strains
21:34that can survive
21:36the toughest conditions,
21:37like those found in the homes
21:39of negligent weekend gardeners,
21:42orchids are now
21:43the number two
21:43best-selling plant in America.
21:47Number one is poinsettias.
21:49But unlike orchids,
21:50poinsettias usually end up
21:52in dumpsters
21:53the day after Christmas.
21:57One of the reasons
21:58that the orchids are seeing
21:59increases in sales
22:01is the consumer
22:02is looking at them
22:03as a good bargain.
22:04If we buy a poinsettia
22:06and it only lasts several weeks,
22:08you can buy an orchid
22:09for the same price
22:10in the last several months.
22:15Science and industry
22:16have conspired
22:18to democratize
22:19the world of orchid collecting.
22:2320 years ago,
22:24if you wanted to buy
22:25a blooming orchid,
22:26you were going to spend
22:27$35 to $75.
22:29Now we can deliver
22:31an orchid that's beautiful
22:32and healthy,
22:33and the retails
22:34start at $4.99.
22:38And Kerry could have sold
22:40Tom the dendrobium,
22:41for which he risked his life,
22:43for $25.
22:44But to an orchid hunter,
22:52it's not enough
22:54to just own
22:54a treasure trove
22:56of orchids.
22:57Gee, look!
22:58Cadetia,
22:59but look at them.
23:00One, two, three, four, five.
23:01The thrill
23:02is in the hunt.
23:04Huh?
23:07Yeah, yeah, yeah,
23:07Agus, look!
23:08Oof!
23:10Agus, look at this
23:10bubble film here.
23:11And look at the pouch,
23:12like a pouch.
23:13Tom's been up since dawn,
23:15trekking to the far side
23:16of the Danny tribe's
23:18hunting grounds.
23:19Especially higher up
23:20where the orchids
23:20are low down.
23:21They're going all over
23:21the ground.
23:22They're going up trees.
23:23Forget the trees.
23:24Look on the ground.
23:24They're falling over them.
23:26There, he immediately
23:27makes an important find.
23:30What do you think?
23:31Because look at the stems.
23:32Could this be the orchid
23:34to name after his grandmother?
23:36Uh,
23:37new species.
23:38You think it's new species?
23:39My grandmother.
23:39We want this
23:40from my grandmother.
23:41Yeah.
23:42Okay.
23:42It's not,
23:43it's all right.
23:44It's not big,
23:45but still,
23:46it'll do sort of thing.
23:47It's not exactly
23:49an Elizabeth Taylor orchid
23:50or even a Barbara Bush.
23:54I think it's a pile of cat,
23:55really,
23:55to be honest.
23:56I hope we find
23:56something a bit bigger.
23:58Agus thinks that
23:59it's a member of the group
24:00or genus Bulbophyllum,
24:01but can't identify
24:03the species.
24:06Tom decides to bank
24:07his plant
24:08in case they find
24:09nothing more impressive.
24:10He takes a photograph
24:11and GPS reading,
24:13both vital
24:14for a formal identification.
24:19Later that night,
24:20he can't find the plant
24:21on his computer.
24:25Could this be
24:26a new species?
24:31Finding a new species
24:33of orchid
24:33is difficult
24:34but not impossible.
24:37But finding it
24:38is only half the battle.
24:40Being the first
24:41to publish
24:41and thus have
24:42the honor of naming it
24:44can be just as difficult.
24:48Recently,
24:49a new Phragmapedium
24:50was discovered
24:51in Peru.
24:51When it was brought
24:55into the Orchid ID Center
24:56at Selby Gardens
24:58in Sarasota, Florida,
25:00Wesley Higgins
25:00was ready
25:01for the race
25:02to begin.
25:05So this flower
25:07was so spectacular.
25:09We knew
25:09that there had
25:10to be others
25:11racing to get
25:13the name
25:13in the publication.
25:15First,
25:16they had to work
25:17fast
25:17because the original
25:18Phragm
25:19had to be sent
25:20back to Peru
25:21under the terms
25:22of the Convention
25:22on International Trade
25:24of Endangered Species.
25:27But as with any orchid
25:29that arrives
25:29at the ID Center,
25:31Higgins enters
25:32its description
25:32into their database
25:34while John Beckner
25:37checks the files.
25:41They could find
25:42nothing like this orchid.
25:47Higgins scrambled
25:48to put together
25:49a team of three experts
25:50to write a Latin
25:51description
25:52of the new
25:52Phragmapedium
25:53while Beckner
25:54pressed the dried specimen.
25:58The only missing element
26:00for publication
26:01was a drawing
26:02of the new plant.
26:05The editor came
26:06into this room here
26:07and asked me
26:07can I do
26:09a color illustration?
26:10We need it desperately
26:11for tomorrow.
26:13And I started work
26:15right away
26:15and started to sketch
26:17the outline
26:17of the plant
26:18and whatever
26:18and by three o'clock
26:20in the morning
26:20it was done
26:21and that was
26:22the right time
26:22to stop
26:23because my eyes
26:24went crosswise.
26:27That same day
26:28in a special supplement
26:29to Selby Garden's
26:30scientific journal
26:31the Phragmapedium
26:32was officially
26:33introduced to the world.
26:36The honor of naming it
26:38went to the man
26:39who brought it
26:39through the door
26:40Mike Kovac.
26:43He requested
26:44that it be named
26:45after him
26:46so it was given
26:47the name
26:48Phragmapedium
26:49Kovacii.
26:52This is the most
26:53spectacular
26:54the most sensational
26:55the most incredible
26:57looking orchid
26:58in a hundred years
26:58or more.
27:00This is an orchid
27:02hunter's dream.
27:04If Tom can find
27:06a new orchid
27:06as beautiful
27:07as Phragmapedium
27:09Kovacii
27:09he will have found
27:11a tribute
27:11to his grandmother
27:12worthy
27:13of the Queen
27:14of England.
27:17He's anxious
27:18to get back
27:19out to the jungle
27:19but Cal wants
27:21to give Tom
27:22a lesson
27:22in material anthropology.
27:24He's got the bigger
27:25flowers
27:25with more ready bases.
27:27He has discovered
27:27that the Danny
27:28use fibers
27:29from the
27:29Dipocollobium orchid
27:31to make nets
27:31for hunting.
27:33To the world
27:34outside the Danny
27:35tribe
27:35there is one other
27:37orchid out of
27:38the 25,000 species
27:39that has some
27:41practical value.
27:43It's vanilla
27:43Plannifolia
27:44and its seed pods
27:46produce the flavor
27:47of vanilla.
27:50But Tom
27:51is only interested
27:52in the beauty
27:53of the flower
27:54and his time
27:55to find
27:55a new species
27:56is running out.
27:58Dendrobium
27:59Yeah, yeah.
28:00Dendrobium.
28:02Yeah.
28:02This is getting
28:03ridiculous.
28:05It was just
28:05too much stuff.
28:06I'm getting it
28:07down to the genus.
28:09Five, ten percent
28:10of it
28:10I know what the species is.
28:11Oh yeah,
28:11that's cadetia.
28:12Yeah, that's right.
28:13What is that?
28:14That's not very good.
28:15New species.
28:17Yeah, new species.
28:19Maybe.
28:20Maybe not.
28:21It's deja vu
28:22all over again.
28:24Yeah, a new species.
28:26Yeah.
28:27Yeah, for sure.
28:27Both Tom and Agus
28:29may be out of their depth.
28:31They're having difficulties
28:32with the genus
28:33and subgenus,
28:34let alone being able
28:35to recognize
28:36the subtleties
28:37of species
28:38and subspecies.
28:40But then,
28:42Tom stumbles
28:42into a field
28:43that reignites
28:44his passion.
28:45And there, look.
28:46And there, look.
28:47And there, look.
28:47And there, and there.
28:48And there.
28:49This grassy glade
28:51is orchid heaven.
28:53Hey, what are we
28:54getting so excited about?
28:55Cal, you've got
28:56to have a look at this.
28:57This is what it's about, Cal.
28:59This is the trip.
29:00This is why I'm here.
29:01Turn around
29:02so I can see it.
29:04Pafiopetalum
29:04Wilhelmini,
29:06a slipper orchid.
29:07Can you just see that pouch?
29:09Do you see that slipper?
29:10All right, all right.
29:11Do you see the twisted?
29:12If this doesn't give you
29:15orchid fever,
29:17nothing will.
29:20Behind every orchid's beauty
29:22lies one of the most
29:23seductive reproduction
29:25strategies on Earth.
29:29All flowers reproduce
29:31with the help of the birds
29:32and the bees,
29:33insects,
29:34and even wind.
29:36Conception takes place
29:37when pollen tubes,
29:39the flower equivalent
29:40of sperm,
29:41make contact
29:42with egg cells
29:43deep in the pistol.
29:45It's kind of a
29:46sloppy shotgun approach.
29:50Orchids,
29:51on the other hand,
29:52are more like
29:53smart bombs.
29:56They trick insects
29:57into picking up
29:58their pollen sacs
29:59by hiding them
30:01inside what is often
30:02their largest
30:02and most colorful petal.
30:04insects are attracted
30:08to the flower
30:09by its color
30:10and by the spots
30:11and hairs
30:12on the lateral petals.
30:14They hone in
30:15on the center
30:15of the flower
30:16and immediately
30:17fall into this
30:19waxy, pouch-like
30:21petal known as
30:22the lip.
30:22The only way
30:23to escape this flower
30:24is to travel up
30:26the backside
30:26of the petal
30:27where there are hairs
30:28and to exit
30:30out of either
30:31side of the column
30:33where a small hole
30:34and a mass of pollen
30:36awaits the insect.
30:38The bee will then
30:38carry pollen
30:40on its back
30:40to another flower.
30:43On the other
30:44orchid's female
30:45sex organ,
30:46buried on the
30:47underside of the column,
30:48millions of pollen
30:49grains are precisely
30:51positioned to come
30:52into ultimate contact
30:53with tens of thousands
30:55of little orchid eggs.
30:58That's a lot of bang
30:59for the buck.
31:02To ensure
31:04reproductive success,
31:05an orchid comes up
31:07with amazing tactics,
31:09sometimes even deceiving
31:10an insect
31:11into believing
31:11that it too
31:12is an insect.
31:15You have some
31:16of these terrestrial
31:17orchids that are
31:18actually pollinated
31:19by the male insect
31:22of a species
31:23that mistakes
31:24the orchid flower
31:24for the female.
31:25And so, you know,
31:26in the technical terms
31:27they call it
31:27pseudocopulation.
31:30While the male wasp
31:32is at it,
31:33the orchid glues
31:34its pollen sack
31:35onto the insect's head.
31:37When the wasp
31:38is frustrated enough,
31:39it goes off
31:40to another orchid.
31:41And this time,
31:42the orchid grabs
31:43the pollen sack
31:44and conception
31:45is complete.
31:47At least for the orchid.
31:51But beyond just
31:52the visual mimicry,
31:54the orchid
31:54further attracts
31:55the male insect
31:56with a fragrance
31:57that smells like
31:58the female sex pheromone.
32:00Plus, the orchid blooms
32:02two weeks before
32:03any female insects
32:04are even hatched.
32:06The male insect
32:07has got basically
32:08an orchid or nothing.
32:10I mean,
32:10it's the ultimate
32:10playboy sex.
32:11It's amazing.
32:12The thing about orchids
32:15is they seem smart.
32:19They seem intelligent.
32:21And the way
32:21they get pollinated
32:22by tricking insects
32:24into thinking
32:25that they are actually
32:27the most beautiful
32:29insect in the world,
32:32tricking an insect,
32:34that's extraordinary.
32:35And in a way,
32:37that's what orchids
32:38have done
32:38to human beings.
32:40From practically
32:42the beginning of time,
32:43they've managed
32:44to seduce people
32:46into looking for them,
32:48collecting them,
32:50caring for them,
32:52being absorbed by them.
32:54And that's sort of
32:55an extraordinary quality
32:57that you can't
32:58just chalk up
33:00to simple science.
33:01There's something there,
33:02something that maybe
33:03we really can't
33:04even understand.
33:06It's that special,
33:08undefinable quality
33:09that drives Tom
33:10to risk his life
33:11for an orchid
33:12and may even infect
33:14cow with orchid fever.
33:16But that is
33:17a lovely flower,
33:17I must say.
33:18It is gorgeous.
33:19I do admit to that.
33:20I mean,
33:21it is fantastic.
33:21Now, I'm beginning
33:22to understand
33:23your orchid fever.
33:24Yeah, the virus
33:24is there,
33:25is there.
33:28Slowly, slowly.
33:30It's Tom's last day
33:32in the Ballium Valley
33:33and with Cal
33:34successfully initiated
33:36into the orchid cult,
33:38he's fired up
33:38to find his grandmother
33:40something more
33:41than that tiny bulbophyllum.
33:43He's taken agates
33:44down to the river
33:45and within seconds
33:46they spot
33:47three unusual species.
33:48Very exciting.
33:50So many.
33:51But hiding away
33:52beneath an overhang,
33:54they find something
33:55really special.
33:56Look at these flowers here.
33:58It's unique.
33:58It's got the flowers
34:00of a dendrobium
34:01and the features
34:03of a bulbophyllum.
34:04I mean, the leaves.
34:05Could this be the treasure
34:06that Tom has been seeking?
34:08An undiscovered cross
34:10between two different
34:11species of orchids?
34:13But hey,
34:13very interesting.
34:15Quite exciting,
34:15I think, to do it.
34:19Slushed with success
34:21at their astonishing find,
34:23Tom decides
34:23to pay for a feast.
34:25He's leaving
34:25the valley tomorrow
34:26and wants to thank
34:27the villagers
34:28for all their work.
34:33It's a well-earned
34:34night of celebration.
34:36But tomorrow
34:36is the moment of truth.
34:38Let's eat this fat
34:39as good as you say.
34:41It thickens your blood.
34:42When Tom returns
34:43to Jakarta.
34:45There he will
34:45consult the experts
34:46to learn if he has
34:48succeeded in finding
34:49a new species
34:50species to bear
34:51his grandmother's name.
35:04Once in the city,
35:05Tom discovers
35:06he's almost back
35:07to square one.
35:11Is this the same one?
35:12The dendrobium
35:13bulbophyllum hybrid
35:14is dendrobium
35:15nor the faggycola.
35:18With better reference books,
35:19he and Agus
35:20quickly find
35:21that what they thought
35:22was a new hybrid
35:23is actually
35:24a well-known species.
35:26Thank you, Mr. Reeve.
35:27Thank you very much.
35:29Thanks.
35:30And the other plant
35:32they found
35:32is, in Tom's opinion,
35:34unworthy
35:34of his grandmother's name.
35:39He's got to go back
35:40into the jungle.
35:41He's heading for the
35:48Van Ries Mountains,
35:49one of the last places
35:51in the world
35:51considered virgin territory.
35:54We need to go to a place
35:55where no botanist
35:56has ever been,
35:58where no one's
36:00even documented
36:01a tree leaf.
36:04Less than half
36:05of this island
36:06has been explored
36:07by Western scientists,
36:08and where they've gone,
36:10the finds
36:11have been astonishing.
36:13In the last 10 years,
36:1525 new species
36:16of mammals,
36:1716 new species
36:19of insect,
36:20and 7 new species
36:21of frog
36:22have been found.
36:26Relatively speaking,
36:27Tom's chances
36:28are good.
36:28The nearest landing strip
36:37is a small missionary
36:38outpost
36:39on the edge
36:40of Lake Holmes.
36:54Having realized
36:56in the Ballium Valley
36:57that the combined
36:58knowledge of him
36:59and Agus
37:00just isn't
37:00comprehensive enough,
37:02Tom has brought in
37:03botanical big guns,
37:05Agustina Arubaya
37:07and her field assistant,
37:08Julius.
37:10They are Papua New Guinea's
37:12leading orchid experts.
37:13I feel that
37:14we need really
37:15a forest that has not
37:16been cultivated before.
37:17Primary forest.
37:19That would be
37:19the place to go.
37:23After consulting
37:25where to go tomorrow,
37:26the downside
37:27of bringing in
37:28the professionals
37:29becomes clear.
37:31Agustina,
37:31what do you think
37:32of my collection
37:32here of an
37:34Oberonia species?
37:35How can you
37:35keep the specimen
37:36if you just
37:37fold them like that
37:38and it's not flat?
37:40But you see,
37:41all you have to do
37:41is put the specimen
37:42down here
37:43as flat as possible,
37:44put the loo on
37:44either side,
37:45shut the book
37:46and clamp on
37:47lots of dictionaries
37:47and suitcases.
37:48Tom's toilet paper
37:49technique for
37:50pressing specimens
37:51isn't up to
37:52professional orchid
37:54collecting standards.
37:55You can't just
37:55tell that
37:56it's a Oberonia.
37:56So normally,
37:57I collect the specimen
37:58like this.
37:59That's all I had.
38:00It's clear that Tom,
38:02an amateur,
38:03is going to have
38:04to work hard
38:05to keep up
38:05with Agustina.
38:06with provisions
38:16for six days,
38:17the team heads off
38:18to the northern shore
38:19of the lake
38:20to primary rainforest,
38:22an area where
38:23no botanist
38:24has ever gone before.
38:25For better or worse,
38:50this jungle,
38:51with its insect sounds
38:52and flora,
38:53is more reminiscent
38:54of the jungle
38:55where Tom was captured
38:56and held hostage
38:58on his orchid hunting
38:59expedition in Colombia.
39:04Look at this.
39:07On their first day
39:09in this new territory,
39:11everybody is excited
39:12about the astonishing
39:13range of orchids.
39:15You can see it now, yeah.
39:16It's lovely, isn't it?
39:17Small but lovely brown lips.
39:21But Tom's strong desire
39:22to find a plant
39:23for his grandmother
39:24is beginning to rub up
39:26against a growing sense
39:27of competitiveness.
39:30And it's Agustina
39:31who scores first.
39:33And it's a different color,
39:34isn't it, as well?
39:34The bellum is a different color.
39:36Tom isn't impressed.
39:38What Agustina has found
39:40is at best
39:41a subspecies
39:42of dendrobium orchid.
39:44And dendrobiums
39:45are the second most
39:46common genus
39:47on the island.
39:47competition aside,
39:54Agustina's presence
39:55does ensure
39:55that the team
39:56has a much better chance
39:58of collecting plants
39:59that have never
40:00been discovered.
40:03And since the database
40:05doesn't contain
40:06the dendrobium
40:07that she collected today,
40:09it may be Agustina
40:11who gets an orchid
40:12named after her first.
40:13You're getting excited
40:16about Agustina's dendrobium.
40:24Orchids are known
40:25to excite.
40:27The English herbal guide
40:28in 1653
40:30advised discretion.
40:32Orchids are hot
40:33and moist in operation,
40:35under the dominion of Venus,
40:37and provoke lust exceedingly.
40:40The name orchid
40:41derives from the Latin
40:42orchis,
40:43which means testicle.
40:47Orchids aren't just pretty,
40:49and a lot of them
40:50aren't even pretty at all,
40:51but they are sexy.
40:53And it's really
40:54one of the things
40:54that makes them unusual
40:56among flowers.
40:58It was believed
40:59that orchids sprang up
41:01wherever animals
41:02had been mating.
41:03And in Victorian England,
41:05women weren't allowed
41:06to have orchids
41:07because the form of them
41:09was thought to be
41:10too erotic
41:11and too sexual
41:12and it would be
41:13too much
41:14for a woman
41:14to bear
41:16having a flower
41:17that sexual
41:18in her possession.
41:28The next morning,
41:32Tom is first to score.
41:33Agustina,
41:35it's my podium, yeah?
41:38You excited, Agus?
41:40I'm really excited.
41:42It's kind of weird.
41:43We have to decide
41:44who goes and gets it.
41:45You.
41:46Well, there's no one else,
41:47is there?
41:47These guys are all having fun.
41:49Vine, yeah, yeah,
41:50I know, yeah.
41:52Or we can...
41:53Agustina goads Tom
41:55to climb a 35-foot-tall tree.
42:03Keep going.
42:05Sleep.
42:10Okay?
42:11Yep.
42:11Is that to do a tiger?
42:14Woo!
42:15Look at it.
42:16Very different sport.
42:25Well done.
42:25Okay.
42:27Whew.
42:28With Tom safely
42:30back down on the ground,
42:31Agustina and Julius
42:33get out the books,
42:34and the news is good.
42:35This is a new species
42:36because...
42:38Have a look at this book.
42:39Why?
42:40Agustina is confident
42:41that there are enough differences
42:43between the well-documented
42:45Dipodium pictum
42:46and the plant
42:47that Tom has found
42:48to make it worth collecting.
42:50All the odds against us.
42:51Produce the goods.
42:52This is what I'm talking about, though.
42:54This is my...
42:54Look at this, Scott.
42:55Grandmother.
42:56Look at it.
42:56G starts there,
42:57the R there,
42:58and perhaps the ND in the middle.
43:01Tom can't contain
43:02his one-offsmanship.
43:06But that night,
43:07he's tortured by doubts
43:08that his find
43:09is just a subspecies.
43:11And to make matters worse,
43:13he's getting sidetracked
43:14by his desire
43:15to outperform Agustina.
43:27Okay.
43:28There.
43:29There!
43:31Look at the size of the plant
43:32that's the biggest
43:33solution you've ever seen.
43:35It's a classic species.
43:37Agustina.
43:40I'm angry.
43:43It's not going to come.
43:45No, this is fine.
43:47It's just...
43:49It's a match.
43:50It's a match.
43:51This isn't even my...
43:51This isn't even my stamping ground.
43:53It's a backyard.
43:54There's nothing new
43:55about this large flower,
43:57spotted 70 feet in the air.
43:59It's just that a few days ago,
44:01Agustina firmly asserted
44:03that Tom would never see
44:05a silageony orchid
44:06flowering this time of year.
44:08Tom's rubbing it in.
44:10Ah!
44:11Yeah, I see it.
44:12You see it, huh?
44:13Yeah.
44:15Seems to be in season
44:16all of a sudden,
44:17doesn't it?
44:17Mm-hmm.
44:18Like now.
44:20Yep.
44:20Three days ago,
44:21it was out of season.
44:24But I can't climb it.
44:25It's fine.
44:26I'll climb it.
44:27Well, I know.
44:27You won't climb it.
44:28Sorry?
44:29I don't think
44:30I'll even bother,
44:31but I know a man who can.
44:32The bike is just...
44:47Don't worry.
44:48That tree is so straight
44:50and slippery.
44:53Can you do it?
44:54No chance.
44:54If he can't manage.
45:02Tom knows
45:18it's a silageony Aspirata,
45:20already a described species.
45:22This was outland.
45:23Big flowers,
45:23big fragrance,
45:24big flowers.
45:24But he gets the satisfaction
45:25of proving Agustina wrong.
45:27The crepe is here.
45:28Ah!
45:29Ah!
45:29Ah!
45:32With only two days
45:34of food left
45:35and still no definite plan
45:37to name for Tom's grandmother,
45:39personal obsession
45:40seems to be getting in the way,
45:43just as with
45:43the Victorian expeditions.
45:47It's shocking
45:48to see what people have done
45:51to compete
45:52to be the one person
45:53who has an unusual orchid.
45:55In Victorian England,
45:57when orchid hunters
45:58would go out,
45:59if they would hear
46:00that another hunter
46:02was following in their path,
46:04they would take
46:04not just every single orchid
46:06they could find,
46:07they would sometimes
46:08set the place on fire.
46:10So the hunter following them
46:12would come upon
46:13a moonscape
46:15that had been
46:16burned to the ground.
46:18In some instances,
46:20there were stories
46:21of hunters
46:22urinating
46:23on each other's shipments
46:25as they were going back
46:26to England
46:27to make sure
46:28that the plants died.
46:29There were murders.
46:31There were probably
46:32more murders
46:33than we even know about
46:34of unknown orchid hunters
46:36who just never came back.
46:46Tension is high
46:47among the orchid hunters.
46:49There's a growing sense
46:56of urgency
46:57to cover more ground.
47:10Then,
47:11three hours from camp,
47:13Agus makes
47:13what may be
47:14the find of the trip.
47:16what do you see here?
47:21You sure it's orchid?
47:23Yeah.
47:24Augustina?
47:25Hang on.
47:26You're right.
47:27This is orchid.
47:28And how are you telling
47:29it's the orchid?
47:30That's the labellum.
47:31That's the guinness.
47:32So you've got the column
47:32at the back there
47:33going down
47:34and you've got the labellum.
47:35The problem is what's next?
47:37I have no idea
47:38about the guinness.
47:39Guys, guys, guys, guys!
47:41We're hopeless!
47:43This is the first time
47:44this trip
47:45and the first time
47:45I've been with you
47:46that we've never been able
47:47to try the guinness.
47:49Closest bets?
47:50It's a plant
47:51to baffle the professionals.
47:55Agustina agrees
47:56it's a member
47:56of the orchid family
47:58but has no idea
48:00what species it is
48:01and doesn't even have
48:02a clue
48:03what genus
48:04or group of species
48:05it's from.
48:07And the bargain is
48:07as Julius pointed out
48:08an extra bark bargain.
48:10The last time
48:10a whole new genus
48:12of orchid was discovered
48:13was more than
48:14a decade ago
48:15in Ecuador.
48:16So we have
48:17new species, sure
48:18but new genus
48:19something else.
48:21Unknown genus.
48:22I would say
48:23unknown genus.
48:23Those two words
48:24it's like church bells
48:25on Sunday
48:26half past ten
48:27unknown genus.
48:28The team is in a situation
48:30that most botanists
48:32can only dream of.
48:34This is why we come here
48:35this is why we're
48:35in an unexplored area
48:36to find unexplored things
48:37but not just
48:39record them
48:40for the first time
48:40in this area
48:41to record them
48:41for the first time.
48:43Full stop.
48:45First time.
48:46First time.
48:47First time boys.
48:48Not just species
48:49not just species
48:50but genus.
48:55I don't see
48:56how you could get
48:59too much better
49:00than this.
49:03For a few moments
49:04the orchid commands
49:06the hunter's
49:07reverential silence.
49:12With such a
49:13potentially momentous
49:14find
49:15Tom decides
49:16to quit
49:17while he's ahead.
49:18He's eager
49:19to get back
49:20to civilization
49:20and let the experts
49:22figure out
49:23if the plants
49:23he's found
49:24are all he hopes
49:25they will be.
49:31Amazingly
49:32experts
49:32only recently
49:33discovered
49:34that orchids
49:35are among
49:35the oldest
49:36flowering plants
49:37on earth.
49:44At the New York
49:45Botanical Gardens
49:46Kenneth Cameron
49:47is extracting
49:48orchid DNA
49:49to trace
49:50their evolution
49:51back over
49:51a hundred million years.
49:54by mapping
49:58DNA sequences
49:59for individual
50:00orchids
50:01and then
50:02comparing
50:02thousands of
50:03samples
50:04he's able
50:05to construct
50:05the entire
50:06orchid family tree.
50:09He's discovered
50:10that the oldest
50:11orchids
50:12originated
50:12at a time
50:13when the land
50:14masses of earth
50:15formed a single
50:16supercontinent
50:17called Gondwana.
50:19As Gondwana
50:20split into the
50:21continents
50:21that exist today
50:23orchids split
50:24with them
50:24and evolved
50:25into different
50:26species.
50:29And at
50:30a hundred
50:30million years
50:31old
50:32orchids
50:32predate
50:33the extinction
50:34of the
50:34dinosaurs.
50:35In fact
50:36the very asteroid
50:37that killed off
50:38the dinosaurs
50:39may have caused
50:40the climactic
50:41conditions
50:41that enabled
50:42orchids to become
50:44the most abundant
50:45and varied family
50:46of flowering plants.
50:47earth's biota
50:50its entire
50:50ecosystems
50:51its climates
50:52shifted
50:52and this allowed
50:53the flowering plants
50:55to become
50:55the dominant
50:56plant form
50:57on earth.
50:58They survived
50:59the dinosaurs
51:00but will they
51:02survive
51:03the passion
51:03of the orchid hunter?
51:05it's two months
51:11after Tom's
51:12return
51:12and Jeff Wood
51:14at Kew Gardens
51:14has been working
51:15on the samples
51:16Tom exported
51:17from Papua New
51:18Guinea.
51:21So Jeff
51:21what do you think
51:22of the samples
51:22that were brought
51:23back?
51:23Are they in quite
51:24good condition?
51:25Well reasonably
51:26no they're
51:27identifiable
51:28certainly
51:28most of them.
51:29And this is
51:29the huge disappointment
51:30I can see Jeff
51:31that you've named
51:32it straight to a species
51:33we didn't know
51:35The flower
51:35that commanded
51:36their awe
51:37is not a new
51:38genus
51:38or even a new
51:39species
51:40it's dismissed
51:41as common.
51:43Trepidia
51:43Acuminata
51:44the genus
51:45itself is quite
51:45widespread
51:46across the
51:48So it's
51:48widespread all over?
51:50Yes it's found
51:50in Borneo as well
51:51not just a good
51:52species but
51:53the genus
51:54And regrettably
51:55the dendrobium
51:56that Agustina
51:57thought was going
51:58to bear her name
51:59was actually
52:00discovered by
52:01J.J. Smith
52:02when Papua New
52:03Guinea was still
52:04a Dutch colony.
52:05Agustina
52:06will be
52:06a bit upset
52:08about that.
52:09The new
52:09species of
52:10dipodium
52:10is the well
52:11described
52:12dipodium
52:13pandanum
52:13the only plant
52:15that offers
52:16a ray of hope
52:17is the very
52:18first bulbophyllum
52:19that Tom
52:19found in the
52:20Ballium Valley.
52:22I see there's
52:23not a species
52:23known there.
52:24No because
52:25bulbophyllum
52:26there's well over
52:26a thousand species
52:27of bulbophyllum
52:28The only contender
52:32that might bear
52:32his grandmother's
52:33name
52:34is the plant
52:35that Tom
52:35described as
52:36a pile of
52:37cack.
52:38But all those
52:39things I said
52:39about you
52:40I really didn't
52:41mean it
52:41bulbophyllum
52:42but you're
52:42absolutely
52:43great.
52:43I've been
52:43very rude
52:45to the plant
52:46I'll take you
52:47completely back
52:48I know it's a
52:49pile of cack
52:50in the past
52:51but things
52:51have changed
52:52when it's the
52:52best contender
52:53in town
52:53things have
52:54got to change
52:54and quick.
52:56In fact
52:56Tom's
52:57grandmother's
52:58nickname
52:58is crack
52:59so why not
53:01bulbophyllum
53:02cracks cack
53:03Do you approve
53:04of that
53:05or do you
53:06think it's
53:06quite funny
53:07as long as
53:08I've got your
53:08approval
53:08about that
53:09next
53:09I think
53:10it's wonderful
53:13But even
53:15cracks cack
53:17will not stand
53:18Two days
53:19after this
53:20conversation
53:20Jeff Wood
53:21from Kew Gardens
53:22called Tom
53:23to tell him
53:24that the plant
53:25is not new
53:26It's called
53:27bulbophyllum
53:28orbiculare
53:29Learning that
53:32he has not
53:33found the
53:33holy grail
53:34of orchidophiles
53:35is certainly
53:36disappointing
53:37But all
53:40is not lost
53:41for the orchid
53:41hunter
53:42The bad news
53:43just gives him
53:44good reason
53:45to go back
53:47to the jungle
53:58bitten by
53:59the orchid
53:59bug
54:00On Nova's
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54:02indulge your
54:03orchid obsession
54:04with a photo
54:04gallery of
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54:06around the
54:06world
54:07at pbs.org
54:09or America
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