"The Reluctant Orchid" is a

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imagination, imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, Paral ...

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

by British writer Arthur C. Clarke, first published in 1956, and later anthologized in'' Tales from the White Hart''. Like the rest of the collection, it is a frame story set in the fictional "White Hart" pub, where the fictional Harry Purvis narrates the secondary tale. According to the American orchid biologist, Joseph Arditti, Clarke told him that the story was inspired by the H. G. Wells story "The Flowering of the Strange Orchid" (1894, ''Pall Mall Budget''), which is mentioned in Clarke's story, about a carnivorous orchid that almost kills the man who buys it at auction.

Plot

The story narrated by Purvis describes the relationship between a very timid acquaintance of his named Hercules Keating, and Hercules's rather overbearing aunt. Hercules is an orchid fancier, and cultivates obscure varieties of these. On one particular occasion, he comes across a carnivorous orchid, and is nearly killed by it. This inspires him to use it to murder his aunt, whom he hates. However, the aunt tames the orchid, thus deflating the scheme.

Publication

Originally published in the magazine'' Satellite Science Fiction'', the piece was later published as the eleventh story in Clarke's collection'' Tales from the White Hart''.

References

Short stories by Arthur C. Clarke 1956 short stories Tales from the White Hart {{1950s-sf-story-stub