Many people believe orchids to be the [epitomise / epitome] of beauty. The colourful, delicate and fragrant [brooms / blooms] of an orchid will be the centrepiece of any floral display. However, botanists have just decided [in / on] the world's ugliest orchid. The orchid family [comprising / comprises] more than 25,000 individual species, so there is every [liking / likelihood] that one or two might not exude exquisiteness. A newly [discovered / discovery] variety has been awarded the [ladle / label] of the world's ugliest orchid by [botany / botanists] at the Royal Botanic Gardens in the UK. It was found last year in a forest in Madagascar. One saving [glaze / grace] for the newly-unearthed plant is its smell. The scientists say the flower has a beautiful, [musky / murky] , rose-like fragrance.
The 'ugly" orchid has been named "gastrodia agnicellus". Researcher Johan Hermans said: "It's not [verily / very] attractive, I must say. It's [fleshy / freshly] looking, red inside and brown on the outside." However, scientists are excited [at / to] finding the plant because they believe there could be many more [looking / lurking] in the undergrowth yet to be [discovery / discovered] . The bad news for the gastrodia is that even [though / through] it has just turned up, it is already [considering / considered] to be an endangered species. Researcher Martin Cheek warned: "The bleak [reality / realism] facing us cannot be underplayed. With two in five plants threatened with [extinction / extraction] , it is a race against time to find, identify, name, and conserve plants [before / afore] they disappear."
