Orchids as Bonsai

This article first appeared in the February 1960. Orchids as Bonsai are still rare though many tiny species would make very impressive examples of them.

In Japan, the art of Bonsai has been common among very old persons for hundreds of years. They have tried a large number of kinds of plants for the purpose.
Not only trees, but also herbaceous plants such as Chrysanthemum or reed have been developed as Bonsai.

in Japan, there are many dainty small wild orchids growing. Nevertheless, it has been very rarely that these orchids were applied for Bonsai because orchids cannot be
trained to form a desired composition. The photos are a few illustrations of Bonsai orchids developed by one of the sergeants of Kyoto University.

He prepares these Bonsai for the ornament of the main office of the university. All the visitors, particularly overseas, seem to realize them very much and the old sergeant is always happy and satisfied with it.