Very interesting article "The uses and misuses of orchids in medicine "

We are now aware that medicines need to be tested before being consumed by human beings. Today, this takes the form of experimentation to assess toxicity, and subsequent randomized control trials to assess both efficacy and adverse effects. However, orchid products, the tubers, leaves or flowers, were introduced into medicine with no such testing, and ultimately their use has declined, not through being proven ineffective, but more through lack of evidence and changes in fashion.

This article examines the medicinal uses of orchid plants in the Orient, Europe, the Americas, Australia and Africa, and concludes by examining their usage today.

by C.J. Bulpitt

http://qjmed.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/98/9/625