Hello, MütterEDU readers, my name is Jacqui Bowman, and I am the Co-Director of Living Exhibits at The Mütter Museum of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia. In the December issue of , it was announced that the Mütter Museum has received an education grant from the to “create intrigue and educate visitors” about the genus Dendrobium and its historical and contemporary importance in medicine. This is the first of a series of articles that will share information about this project.
The Mütter Museum gets thousands of visitors of all ages every year (over 180,000 in 2019) and
many of them visit the . Very few of them know anything about how orchids are used in medicine, or even about orchids at all – beyond the Phalaenopsis they see for sale at the supermarket down the street. Having orchids on display provides a tremendous opportunity to teach visitors about the extraordinary variety of orchids. It is also an opportunity to engage with communities in Philadelphia who may use orchid plants as medicine or recall their families doing so.
The genus Dendrobium is one of the largest orchid genera and has enormous economic
importance globally as a source of ornamental plants as well as medicine. These orchids are
used widely in India and Asia and by communities all over the world who trace their roots to
these geographic areas. The use of orchids in medicine has the longest history in China where
Dendrobium moniliforme (L.) sw. and Dendrobium catenatum Lindl. have been used for at least 1000 years. Dendrobium (Shihu) was described in the first Chinese , Shen Nong Bencao Jing, in the first century C.E. They are an enormously variable genus in terms of size and appearance. At least 70 of them have been investigated for pharmacological properties that have been shown to impact disease processes including cancer and diabetes.
The reason I initially became interested in Dendrobium orchids was through an interest in Japanese orchids known as Chouseiran or “long life orchids.” These are Dendrobium moniliforme (L.) orchids collected for their beauty and variety in shape and color of their leaves, canes, and flowers. They have been collected in Japan since the Edo Period (1603 – 1867), and they are typically displayed in beautiful ceramic pots. It was in reading about these orchids that I came to discover about how they, and many other Dendrobiums, have been used in medicine for thousands of years.
Last summer we were lucky to be able to borrow some beautiful Dendrobium orchids from and display them in the Benjamin Rush Medicinal Plant Garden at the Mütter Museum. We are currently working on a small indoor cold-weather exhibit of some of the medicinal Dendrobium orchids for the interior of the building. As this project continues, we will share information via this blog and on Instagram at #mutterorchids.
Bibliography:
Accessed on 29 Dec 2021.
Accessed on 29 Dec 2021.
Cakova V, F Bonte, A Lobstein (2017). Dendrobium: Sources of Active Ingredients to Treat Age-Related Pathologies. Aging & Disease Vol 8 (827-849. December.
Medicinal Orchids of Asia by Eng Soon Teoh (2016) Springer International Publishing Switzerland.
Healing Orchids by Hong Hai & Soh Shan Bin (2020). World Scientific Publishing Co.Pte. Ltd.