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 plaque flower plaques with Chinese blessings: ke si yun lai (客似雲來) or sheng yi xing long (生意興隆) written with Chinese calligraphy. In the 1960s, Hong Kong craftsman discovered a new type of Chinese flower plaques which was a mechanical box. They were mainly made of motors, belts, gongs (鑼) and paper-mache dolls. The mechanical flower plaques performed a short play based on Chinese folklore and historical stories. They were put outside the bakery to attract customers. In 1975, Elizabeth II the queen visited Oi Man Estate(愛民邨). The first English version of flower plaques were placed and written “Welcome Queen and Prince”