If I could only have one orchid, it would be Brassavola cordata or its close relative, la dama de la noche, the lady of the night (B. nodosa). These are unassuming orchids, thriving on benign neglect. Brassavola tend to bloom in the autumn and winter. Often, the flowers are not noticed until the evening when their fragrance overwhelms the nighttime air.

Brassavola cordata was first found by Hans Sloane during his stay in Jamaica from 1687 to 1689. No European at that time understood epiphytes and Sloane catalogued it as a Viscum or mistletoe. The plant was first classified by Linnaeus, but in the 1800s when these orchids were better understood, John Lindley renamed it.

Sloane is remembered as the greatest plant collector in the age of discovery of the New World. But Sloane did more than botanical collecting; he was a collector of knowledge. He acquired the scientific papers of his contemporaries and the accounts of voyages. He sought out the medieval manuscripts of alchemists, herbalists, and theologians. He collected and preserved thousands of documents in the belief there should be a great national library in England.

In 1721, Sir Hans Sloane founded the Botanic Garden in Chelsea and in 1727 upon the death of Sir Isaac Newton, became the President of the Royal Society. His wish for a national library was fulfilled after his death in 1753.

It has been over three hundred years since the discovery of the Brassavola cordata. I wonder when I step outside to breathe the night air around my Brassavola; did Sloane suffer from the same enchantment?