ts ▁their ▁entire ▁lives , ▁re lying ▁on ▁the ▁fung us ▁for ▁carbon . ▁The ▁debate ▁over ▁whether ▁fung al ▁sym b ios is ▁is ▁necessary ▁for ▁the ▁orch id ▁is ▁an ▁old ▁one , ▁as ▁No el ▁Bernard ▁first ▁proposed ▁orch id ▁sym b ios is ▁in ▁ 1 8 9 9 . ▁In ▁ 1 9 2 2 ▁the ▁American ▁botan ist ▁Lewis ▁Kn ud son ▁discovered ▁that ▁orch id ▁se eds ▁could ▁be ▁grown ▁on ▁ag ar ▁and ▁fung al ▁sug ars ▁without ▁my cor rh iz ae , ▁however ▁modern ▁research ▁has ▁found ▁that ▁the ▁germ ination ▁of ▁orch ids ▁may ▁be ▁more ▁successful ▁with ▁specific ▁fung i . ▁ ▁Although ▁e pi ph yt ic ▁orch ids ▁grow ▁on ▁other ▁plants ▁they ▁may ▁produce ▁ch lor oph yll ▁in ▁their ▁leaves , ▁st ems , ▁and ▁roots . ▁As ▁with ▁all ▁orch ids , ▁germ ination ▁and ▁the ▁develop ▁into ▁proto c orm s ▁is ▁reli ant ▁upon ▁fung al ▁sym b ion ts , ▁which ▁decrease ▁the ▁time ▁of ▁germ ination ▁and ▁increase ▁the ▁vig or ▁of ▁the ▁proto c orm . ▁The ▁reli ance ▁of ▁orch ids ▁on ▁specific ▁fung i ▁has ▁been ▁widely ▁studied , ▁and ▁the ▁populations ▁of ▁certain ▁fung i ▁which ▁are ▁present ▁in ▁the ▁soil ▁have ▁proved ▁to ▁be ▁of ▁greater ▁importance ▁in ▁seed ▁germ ination ▁than ▁the ▁orch id ' s ▁proxim ity ▁to ▁older ▁plants ▁or ▁their ▁ge ographical ▁location , ▁as ▁previously ▁assumed . ▁ ▁F ung al ▁entry