Wedderburn’s strange orchid (Wells)

Overview

Winter-Wedderburn buys an unidentified shrivelled rhizome among plants associated with the dead collector Batten. Its genus remains uncertain: Wedderburn speculates that it might be entirely new. His housekeeper dislikes its resemblance to a spider pretending to be dead, but this is her comparison, not an account of an animal body. In the hothouse it develops long aerial roots with flattened ends and broad, glossy green leaves marked with deep red near their bases. Three great flowers appear on trailing green spikes. Their white petals carry golden-orange streaks, while the intricately coiled projecting lip mingles bluish purple with gold.

The flowers’ intense sweetness precedes Wedderburn’s dizziness and collapse. His housekeeper finds grey, rope-like roots attached to his chin, neck and hands, with a thread of blood beneath one. She breaks windows to admit air, drags man and plant outside and tears the roots loose. Wedderburn survives; the damaged orchid is black and putrescent by the next morning, while the other hothouse plants have suffered from cold. The earlier suggestion that this very orchid lay beneath Batten’s body makes his death ominous, but the tale does not establish that it killed him. Its unnamed fictional form should not be treated as a real orchid species or a description of orchids generally.

First appearances & development

H. G. Wells’s authored English fiction, retained in The Stolen Bacillus and Other Incidents (Methuen, 1895). This is a literary narrative, not a collected tradition or a biological account.

Canon & continuity

The complete selected story and its ending were read with the collection’s dated title and author acknowledgments. No original periodical issue or physical copy was independently consulted.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

1. 01

   The Stolen Bacillus and Other Incidents — The Flowering of the Strange Orchid

   H. G. Wells · 1895

   London: Methuen & Co., 36 Essex Street, Strand; retained dated title.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

1. Primary historical English literary fictionThe Flowering of the Strange Orchid — complete narrative and collection titleResearch access: 2026-10-18

Image credits

Wedderburn’s strange orchid (Wells) — independent literary illustration with reconstructed unspecified details.