[pikevi]

felihaha: That is a very interesting question.

kmarch gave you a specific answer to your question.

I don't know these two orchids nor the distribution of them but I assume they are found , geographically, far apart.

As to the question of 'Why' I think it is simply 'human curiosity'. Just curiosity, does not get funds for research so it is camouflaged as a study to find 'where we came from' or 'where we are going'.

The mainstream reason for studying evolution is genetics. If we believe that all animals and plants were produced from simple proteins ( I apologize to believers of 'intelligent design'), probably just under a Billion years, scientists would like to know why the 'life forms' on earth took to this kind of extreme variations. Genetic mutations aside, there are many reasons such as geological changes (local or global cataclysmic events), climatic changes, plate tectonics ( why Australia / galapagos have unique plants and animals),pestilence ( some viruses /bacteria could wipe out an entire species) and lately anthropology ( cultural as well as physical).

But plants have always been at the centre of evolutionary study because they are the ONLY source of energy/usable proteins for for all other animals. Plants ultimately decided what animals will live in a particular region.

I don't think we could go deep into the subject because this forum is for orchids.

I hope this helped you a little.