And in fact, most of the orchids we're familiar with are tropical in origin. Like this cattleya cadmia, grown primarily for corsages. And, in fact it's an epiphytic orchid, which means that it grows up in the branches of trees. But other orchids grow in soil.
Orchids are a very large and diverse family.
There are 48,000 varieties of orchids. Look at this one, a terrestrial called pathipedia. The orchids that you'll be growing in your home, whether epiphytic or terrestrial, all have certain common characteristics. They like very pure water. They all like to dry out in between regular watering.