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Ghost Orchid
Polyrrhiza lindenii
Photo credit: Mike Fournier |
The Endangered Plants of
Florida
The Ghost Orchid
Polyrrhiza lindenii
Florida, La Florida, as it was named by Spanish explorer
Ponce De Leon, in the early 1500's, means Land of the
Flowers.
We certainly do attempt to live up to the name!
There are 118 Orchid Species in the State of Florida,
and 50 of them are in South Florida.
Orchids also grow in our Forests, but they have
been picked by poachers there into near extinction.
And of those 118 species of Orchids, only one rules,
the Ghost Orchid.
It is the most watched, searched for, treasured, admired,
and just about every other adjective that you can think
of, plant.
It is simply the most desirable flower in the world
and it lives in Florida.
The unique Ecosystem necessary
to maintain the Ghost Orchid,
exists only in one small part of South Florida,
and of course in Cuba, where it was first seen in 1844,
then many years later in was seen in the Everglades.
Fakahatchee Strand State
Preserve, the Orchid capital
of North America, is one of the places where it still lives,
the other is the Audubon Corkscrew Sanctuary.
If you are ever near Naples, Florida, it would be a never
to be forgotten experience, I am sure, to take a trip
to the Audubon Corkscrew Sanctuary there.
One of the few last places on Earth where the
breathtaking Ghost Orchid can still be seen.
Its appearance of not actually being attached to the
Cypress Tree has given it the nickname of frog,
as it looks like a frog leaping away.
It has no leaves and hardly any stem.
If you are an exquisitely beautiful, rare
and most needy flower, it also doesn't hurt
to have really dedicated U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Biologist Larry Richardson
at your beck and call.
These Orchids are his babies and he looks after
them like any other mother would.
In his spare time, he also keeps an eye on the critically
Endangered Florida Panther with whom the
Ghost Orchids share a Habitat, or Ecosystem.
Poachers have repeatedly stolen this precious flower,
only to learn that what it needs to survive they
can not provide, namely a 600-800 year old
Cypress Tree and a Big Swamp.
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Ghost Orchid
Polyrrhiza lindenii
Photo credit: Mike Fournier |
There are over 55 Endangered or Threatened plants in
Florida,
and they are all conveniently listed
here:
Florida's Federally Listed Plant Species
Places to learn more:
Audubon
Ghost
Orchid
Florida Native Plant Society
Ecosystems of Florida
National Wildlife Federation
A Delicate Affair: Orchids and Panthers
Star Banner
The
Ocala National Forest Ecosystem
University of Florida
Fakahatchee Strand State
Preserve
Florida Forest
Plants
Florida
Forest Trees
