New exotic orchids were most often sold at auction in London, fetching extravagant prices.
Many died on these expeditions due to conflict with locals or rival orchid-hunters engaged in destructive behaviours.
These expensive expeditions were often shrouded in secrecy and it was not unusual for collectors to spread misleading information about the locations where new orchids were found.
Through experimentation and by gathering more information on the growing conditions of orchids in their natural habitat, knowledge was slowly being developed and by 1851 B.S.
Wells' 1894 short story The Flowering of the Strange Orchid and Fred M. White's 1898 The Purple Terror.