Orchidaceae tubers after detecting the plants underground by scent. Orchids have been used in traditional medicine in an effort to treat many diseases and ailments. They have been used as a source of herbal remedies in China since 2800 BC. "Gastrodia elata" is one of the three orchids listed in the earliest known Chinese Materia Medica ("Shennon bencaojing") (c. 100 AD). Theophrastus mentions orchids in his "Enquiry into Plants" (372–286 BC). Orchids have many associations with symbolic values. For example, the orchid is the City Flower of Shaoxing, China. "Cattleya mossiae" is the national Venezuelan flower, while "Cattleya trianae" is the
Flower box Sometimes a box is placed inside a kitchen window in order to grow herbs or other supplies for a chef as an easily accessed miniature kitchen garden. J. Linderski has argued that Pliny described flower boxes in his "Naturalis Historia", at 19.59. However, Linderski could only find one other allusion to this practice in Martial 11.18. Flower box A flower box is a type of container in the form of a planter or box that is usually placed outdoors and used for displaying live plants and flowers, but it may also be used for growing herbs or other edible plants.