Plant in DD1 Lucite Block Collection Set -- 2 Pieces Set

Real Purple Orchid - Bauhinia purpurea &  Oriental Arborvitae –Platycladus orientalis plant specimen encased in clear lucite material. The specimens are crystal clear, indestructible and transparent. Safe, authentic and completely unbreakable product put real plants right at your fingertips!

Anyone can safely explore the plants from every angle.

It is clear enough for microscope observation.

Size of the Orchid leaf is 5.3x4.3 cm (2.1x1.7 inch).

Size of the Arborvitae plant is 6.0x5.5 cm (2.4x2.2 inch).

Size of each lucite block is 75x75x21 mm (3.0x3.0x0.8 inch).

Weight of each lucite block is 140 gram.

These are handmade real specimen crafts. Each one will be a bit different (specimen size, color and posture) even in the same production batch.
The pictures in the listing are just for reference as we are selling multiple pieces with same pictures.

It is an ideal learning aid for students and kids and also a very good collectible item for every body.

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Purple Orchid - Bauhinia purpurea

A native species also found in S. China and S.E.Asia. The tree is of medium size with alternate large heart shaped leaves with 2 lobes and veins (9-11) radiating from the base of the leaf. The margin is entire and the surfaces smooth and hairless. Size ranges from 8 - 15 cm in diameter, petiole to 4cm long.

Flowering, from October to December. Flowers pink to nearly white, corolla of 5 narrow petals , stamens 3 or 4. Ovary superior.

Fruit, dark pod to 30cm long, 2cm wide containing 12 to 16 seeds 15mm in diameter 1 - 2mm thick. Seed forms very rapidly and trees in flower may already show numerous green pods. While most pods will open in the drier winter weather some may persist through to the next flowering season.

Common name(s): [more details]

Habit:  tree

Description:  "Small tree to 4 m tall; petioles 2.5-3.5 cm long; leaf blades 4.5-11 cm long, 4.5-10 cm wide; inflorescence paniculate; flowers numerous, the buds clavate, ca 2 cm long prior to anthesis; petals very slender, the banner purple-striate, ca 7 mm wide, fertile stamens 3, the anthers ca 6 mm long, versatile"  (Welsh, 1998; p. 139).

 "A shrub or small tree 5-7 m high, commonly cultivated near sea level, or possibly sparingly naturalized along roadsides.  Its fragrant flowers, with three fertile stamens, have pale purple petals paler at base; its fruits may be as large as 30 x 2.5 cm"  (Smith, 1985; p. 121).

"A medium-sized...tree.  Leaves shallow-cordate and 9- or 11-nerved at base, the lobes rounded or obtuse to subacute.  Inflorescence a few-flowered corymb.  Flowers purple or at least purple-marked; calyx split into 2 valves with 5 teeth; petals oblanceolate, long-clawed; fertile stamens 3 or 4.  Pods 15-30 cm long, up to 2.5 cm wide, 12- 15-seeded"  (Walker, 1976; p. 543).

Key to some Bauhinia species:

Fertile stamen 1; staminodes 5, small; petals long-clawed, 4-5.5 x 2-3 cm, white to pink, with red blotches or dots, the uppermost one splotched with deeper red, yellow or yellow-margined; leaf blades ovate-oblong, 7-20 cm long and broad, cordate to rounded at base, pubescent beneath when young, lobed about 1/5-1/2 their length, the lobes obtuse to subacuminate. B. monandra.

Fertile stamens 3-10.

Petals crimson to deep red, yellow-dotted without, 2.5-4 cm long, the claw nearly as long as the lamina; fertile stamens 3; leaf blades crescent-shaped, 2-5 cm long and broad, cordate to rounded at base, shallowly lobed to about 1/3 their length, the lobes rounded. B. galpinii.

Petals white or yellow to purple, not clawed or with a claw much shorter than the lamina.

Fertile stamens 10; corolla campanulate, the petals yellow, 1-3 of them sometimes purple-blotched within, 2.5-5.5 cm long, overlapping at margins; leaf blades variable but subcircular, up to 10 x 11 cm long and broad, sometimes pilose beneath, truncate to subcordate at base, usually lobed to about 1/3 their length, the lobes rounded. B. tomentosa.

Fertile stamens 3 or 5.

Flower buds 4- or 5-angled or -winged; petals pale purple, shading to pinkish proximally, oblanceolate, 3-6 cm long, not more than 2 cm broad; fertile stamens 3; staminodes 7; leaf blades elliptic to suborbicular, 6-19 cm long and broad, rounded to cordate at base, lobed 1/2-1/4 their length, the lobes rounded to acute. B. purpurea.

Flower buds not angled or winged; petals pale purple or rose or white or yellow, obovate 4-6 cm long, 2-3 cm broad, the uppermost one broader; fertile stamens 5; staminodes 5, about half as long as stamens; leaf blades broadly ovate to suborbicular, 5-14 cm long and broad, cordate to truncate at base, lobed about 1/3 their length or less, the lobes rounded. B. variegata.

From: Smith, A. C. 1985. Flora Vitiensis nova: A new flora of Fiji. Lawai, Kauai, Hawai‘i. National Tropical Botanical Garden. Vol. 3, p 119.

Habitat/ecology:  Occurs at lower elevations in its native habitat.  In Fiji, "commonly cultivated near sea level, or possibly sparingly naturalized along roadsides" (Smith, 1985; p. 121). In New Caledonia, "cultivé, et assez commun en fourrés secondaires sur la côte Ouest" (MacKee, 1994; p. 72).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  "Southeastern Asia, now widely cultivated throughout the tropics" 

Oriental Arborvitae Leafytwigs  (Cacumen Platycladus)

Oriental Arborvitae –Platycladus orientalis

Class: Pinopsida  Order: Pinales   Family: Cupressaceae   Genus: Platycladus   Species: P. orientalis

Platycladus is a distinct genus of evergreen coniferous tree in the cypress family Cupressaceae, containing only one species, Platycladus orientalis, also known as Chinese Arborvitae or Biota. It is endemic to Northwestern China. It is also now naturalised as an introduced species elsewhere in Asia: eastward to Korea and Japan; southward to northern India; and westward to northern Iran.

Although generally accepted as only member of its genus, it has been suggested that the closely related species Microbiota decussata could be included in Platycladus, but this is not widely followed. Other fairly close relatives are the genera Juniperus and Cupressus, both of these genera being graft-compatible with Platycladus. In older texts, Platycladus was often included in Thuja, but it is only distantly related to that genus. Differences from Thuja include its distinct cones, wingless seeds, and its almost scentless foliage.

It is a small, slow-growing tree, to 15-20 m tall and 0.5 m trunk diameter (exceptionally to 30 m tall and 2 m diameter in very old trees). The foliage forms in flat sprays with scale-like leaves 2-4 mm long. The cones are 15-25 mm long, green ripening brown in about 8 months from pollination, and have 6-12 thick scales arranged in opposite pairs. The seeds are 4-6 mm long, with no wing.

The common name 'arborvitae' is from Latin, 'tree of life', and is based on its association with long life and vitality in Buddhist thought in China. This is probably based on the tree's unchanging evergreen nature in the cold dry climate of northwest China, and its longevity; some of the larger specimens planted around Buddhist temples in China are said to be in excess of 1,000 years old.

It is very widely used as an ornamental tree, both in its homeland, where it is associated with long life and vitality, and very widely elsewhere in temperate climates. Several cultivars have been selected, of which 'Aurea nana' and 'Elegantissima' have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. The wood is used in Buddhist temples, both for construction work, and chipped, for incense burning.