Cattleya aclandiae growing in the Bahia province in Brazil combines characters for both bird and insect pollination, since the lip functions as a landing site and the flower has a scent while the column forms a red tube suitable for the tongue of a hummingbird.
As mentioned, there are at least 25,000 orchid species besides a number of natural hybrids. Therefore, this review of pollination in orchids describes only a limited part of all the existing variations. It may be added there are at least 20 million of insects of which only 950,000 are described and named. About 9,000 birds are known. If just one of the pollinators becomes extinct, it can easily also cause the disappearance of an orchid species.