Many restaurants also use Thai orchids to decorate tropical meals, to the dismay of orchid experts. Leon Lin, an orchid adviser to the Tainan County government, wrinkled his nose in disgust when his lunch plate of fried rice in Hsinying, the county seat, came with a cut purple orchid on top. "All orchids are drenched with pesticides -- they should never be allowed to touch food,'' he said, grimacing as he gingerly removed the flower with his right thumb and forefinger and tossed it in the middle of the table.
As in many industries, the spectacular economic expansion in China has cushioned orchid growers somewhat from rising competition. In January, Chinese buyers bought up practically every live red orchid in Asia and Europe for Chinese New Year, paying breathtaking prices of as much as US$30 a plant at wholesale, said Andrew Easton, an executive at Kerry's Bromeliads in Homestead, Florida.
But the long-term trend in orchid prices is clearly downward, even as quality improves. Mr. Easton remembers paying US$80 in 1958 for a small purple cattleya.
"Now,'' he said, "I can get an orchid as good as that one for US$25.''
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