Where Do Ghost Orchids Grow: Ghost Orchid Information And Facts

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A white ghost orchid flower blooming in the wild

What is a ghost orchid, and where do ghost orchids grow? This rare orchid, Dendrophylax lindenii , is found primarily in humid, marshy areas of Cuba, the Bahamas, and Florida. Ghost orchid plants are also known as white frog orchids, thanks to the frog-like shape of the odd-looking ghost orchid flowers. Read on for more ghost orchid information.

Where Do Ghost Orchids Grow?

With the exception of a handful of people, nobody knows exactly where ghost orchid plants grow. The high level of secretiveness is to protect the plants from poachers who attempt to remove them from their natural environment. Like most wild orchids in the United States, ghost orchid plants are also threatened by loss of pollinators , pesticides, and climate change .

About Ghost Orchid Plants

Blooms have a white, other-worldly appearance that lends a mysterious quality to ghost orchid flowers. The plants, which lack foliage, look like they’re suspended in air as they attach themselves to tree trunks via a few roots.

Their sweet nighttime scent attracts giant sphinx moths that pollinate the plants with their proboscis – long enough to reach pollen hidden deep within the ghost orchid flower.

Experts at University of Florida Extension estimate that there are only about 2,000 ghost orchid plants growing wild in Florida, although recent data suggests there may be significantly more.

Growing ghost orchid flowers at home is nearly impossible, as it’s extremely difficult to provide the plant’s very particular growing requirements. People who manage to remove an orchid from its environment are usually disappointed because ghost orchid plants almost always die in captivity.

Fortunately, botanists , working hard to protect these endangered plants , are making great progress in devising sophisticated means of seed germination. While you may not be able to grow these orchid plants now, perhaps one day in the future it will be possible. Until then, it’s best to enjoy these interesting specimens as nature intended – within their natural habitat, wherever that is, however, still remains a mystery.

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11 Enchanting Quirks of the Rare Ghost Orchid

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The ghost orchid is aptly named for a few reasons. Its white flowers have a vaguely spectral appearance, and they seem to hover in the forest due to an illusion created by the leafless plant. This effect also makes the rare orchid even harder to find, especially outside the brief, unpredictable window when it blooms in summer.

Unfortunately, the ghost orchid is also at risk of living up to its name in another way. It's an endangered species, limited to scattered populations in Cuba, the Bahamas, and Florida, where it exists in just three southwestern counties.

It inhabits remote swamp forests and small wooded islands, yet still faces an array of threats from humans, namely poaching, climate change, loss of pollinators, and loss of habitat.

The species has long enchanted anyone lucky enough to see it, and we're still learning its secrets—including new research that challenges what we thought we knew about its pollinators.

In honor of the ghost orchid's haunting mystique, and of scientists' quest to save it, here's a closer look at this unique floral phantom.

1. It only blooms once a year for a few weeks—or not at all

The ghost orchid ( Dendrophylax lindenii ) blooms between June and August, typically just once per year for a period of about one or two weeks. Or it might just take the year off. As few as 10% of ghost orchids may bloom in a given year, and of those, as few as 10% may be pollinated.

2. It has scales instead of leaves

The ghost orchid is what's known as a "leafless" orchid, since its leaves have been reduced to scales and mature plants seem to lack foliage.

It also has a reduced stem, which is often hard to see even if you somehow find a ghost orchid in the wild.

3. It's mostly made of roots

In lieu of leaves and a stem, the ghost orchid plant consists mostly of roots, which grow on a tree's bark without need for the soil below. That's because the ghost orchid is an epiphyte , a term for plants that grow not in soil, but on trees and other hosts sort of like a parasite.

Unlike parasites, epiphytes don't take nutrients from their hosts and don't necessarily cause any trouble for them. They tend to grow on the main trunk or large boughs of a living tree, often several feet off the ground, although they can be located much higher up in the canopy.

4. Its roots act like leaves

Doug Goldman / USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database

The ghost orchid may not have leaves to speak of, but that doesn't mean it has given up on photosynthesis. Although its roots already have their hands full—they anchor the orchid onto its tree, while also taking in water and nutrients—they fill this role, too.

The roots contain the chlorophyll needed for photosynthesis, rendering leaves unnecessary. The roots also feature small white marks known as pneumatodes, which perform the gas exchange needed for respiration and photosynthesis.

When the orchid isn't in bloom, the mass of roots looks like "unremarkable bits of green linguine," as National Geographic described them.

5. Its flowers look like they're floating in the forest

Josh O'Connor / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

The greenish roots blend in with the bark of trees where ghost orchids grow, making them well-camouflaged when they aren't blooming, especially in the dimly lit understory.

During the brief window when they do bloom, the flower grows on a thin spike extending outward from the roots. The roots act like a puppeteer dressed to match the background, dangling the flower as if it's floating freely in the forest.

Although ghost orchid is undoubtedly its coolest name, the plant is also known as "palm polly" or the "white frog orchid," a reference to the pair of long, lateral tendrils from its lower petal that vaguely resemble the hind legs of a frog.

6. It smells kind of like apples, especially in the morning

At an undisclosed location in South Florida, about 13 ghost orchids abruptly bloomed in the summer of 2009, giving scientists a unique opportunity to study the species in the wild. That included a team of researchers who investigated the orchid's "floral headspace," using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to identify volatile compounds in the flower's scent.

They identified several organic chemicals known as terpenoids, the most abundant of which was (E,E)-α-farnesene, a compound found in the natural coating of apples, pears, and other fruits.

From about 5 centimeters (2 inches) away, "the floral scent of D. lindenii was readily detectable to the authors," they reported in the European Journal of Environmental Sciences, "and seemed to intensify at sunset." The fragrance was most potent in the early morning, they added, between 1 and 6 a.m. local time. "The scent can best be described as sweet-smelling and somewhat fruity," they wrote.

7. It was long thought to rely on just one moth for pollination

Politikaner / Wikimedia Commons

The ghost orchid's pollen is hidden deep within its flowers, and so it can only be pollinated by an insect with a proboscis long enough to reach all the way inside.

For ghost orchids, the long-tongued pollinator was long ago identified as the giant sphinx moth, which is native to South and Central America but relatively rare in North America, with only occasional sightings in Florida and a few other southern U.S. states.

It's widely described as the sole pollinator of ghost orchids, thanks to its long proboscis and a lack of evidence for any other pollinators. Its larvae feed on the pond apple tree, which is also an important host for ghost orchids.

8. Its pollination might not be as simple as we thought

Charles J. Sharp / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0

Despite conventional wisdom about the ghost orchid's reliance on giant sphinx moths, photos taken in Florida suggest the reality is more complicated.

Wildlife photographer Carlton Ward Jr. set up a camera trap in Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, located just northwest of Big Cypress National Preserve , and caught images of five different moth species visiting ghost orchids. As National Geographic reports , two of these moths—the fig sphinx and pawpaw sphinx—had ghost orchid pollen on their heads.

This was later backed up by another photographer, Mac Stone, who captured images of a fig sphinx moth visiting a ghost orchid with the plant's pollen on its head. Both photographers also got photos of giant sphinx moths visiting ghost orchids, but none were carrying ghost-orchid pollen, raising the possibility that giant sphinx tongues are long enough to "steal" nectar from ghost orchids without actually pollinating them. These findings were published in the journal Scientific Reports.

If the ghost orchid really does have multiple pollinators—with or without the giant sphinx—it would be welcome news, since it would mean the orchid's reproduction doesn't depend entirely on one rare insect. And that may be especially valuable now, given the threat of pesticides and other factors fueling the widespread decline of insects around the world, including many important pollinators.

9. Its habitats are becoming more hazardous

In Florida, ghost orchids tend to grow on just three tree species—pop ash, pond apple, and bald cypress—but in Cuba, they've been found growing on at least 18 different host trees.

"Although populations of D. lindenii in southern Florida and Cuba are separated by only 600 km, this species appears to occupy two different habitats and colonizes a different set of host trees," researchers noted in a study published in Botanical Journal.

Ghost orchids in Florida also grow slightly higher off the ground than in Cuba, the authors noted, possibly because stagnant water prevents seedlings from growing on submerged tree surfaces during South Florida's rainy season.

In both countries, however, the ghost orchid's habitats "are undergoing rapid, irreversible change imposed by climate change and other factors," the researchers added. "Both regions, for example, are vulnerable to sea-level rise this century given their low elevation, and the severity and frequency of tropical cyclone activity is another concern."

Ghost orchids have already experienced a steady decline in the wild, and based on simulations of habitat changes, "hurricanes and similar disturbances could result in near-certain extinction in short time horizons," researchers reported in 2015, possibly within a period of 25 years.

The orchid faces another obstacle from encroaching human development, which is prompting changes in the water table and the fire cycle, according to a report published in the journal Wetland Science & Practice.

Yet another threat comes from the emerald ash borer , an invasive insect that kills ash trees. It hasn't reached Florida yet, but if it infects mature stands of pop ash trees in places like Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge —where 69% of all ghost orchids grow on pop ash—it could have a devastating effect on the species.

10. It has a problem with poachers, too

Along with its general rarity and remote, inhospitable habitat, the ghost orchid's camouflage makes it incredibly hard to find in the wild. That doesn't stop some people from trying, though, and not always for good reasons.

An estimated 2,000 ghost orchids live in the wild across South Florida, according to the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS), although a recent survey suggests there might be more.

While researchers want to know where those orchids are, the locations are often kept secret due to the threat of poachers, who may be willing to risk their lives in search of wild ghost orchids.

Although the rare plants may command a high price on the black market, this is stupid even beyond the obvious legal, ethical, and ecological reasons. Ghost orchids rarely survive removal from the wild.

11. It's very hard to cultivate, but one fungus seems to help

The ghost orchid not only tends to die when removed from its natural habitat, but it's also famously ill-suited to captivity in general.

Botanists long struggled to cultivate the orchid, hoping to create a population of captive-bred plants that could be periodically transplanted to help buffer their wild counterparts.

Although the ghost orchid has seemed impossible to cultivate, researchers have made some breakthroughs in recent years. Michael Kane, a professor of environmental horticulture at the University of Florida, has been working with a team of researchers to bring ghost orchid seeds from the wild to a propagation lab, where they try to germinate the seeds under sterile conditions on a gelled medium and then transfer the plants into a greenhouse.

The key is not only recreating precise conditions that ghost orchids need to thrive, but also providing them with the right fungus. Ghost orchid seeds won't germinate unless they're infected with a specific mycorrhizal fungus, which provides energy for the germination and then grows on the plant's roots as part of a symbiotic relationship.

In the wild, ghost orchids seem to colonize trees with moist, corrugated bark that harbors fungi in the genus Ceratobasidium, and researchers have identified certain fungal strains that lead to higher germination rates.

Kane and his team have been so successful in cultivating ghost orchids that they've also begun reintroducing them to the wild. The researchers planted 80 orchids in the wild in 2015, achieving an 80% survival rate a year later, then followed up with 160 more orchids in 2016.

This alone may not save the species, especially if its habitats remain in danger, but it's still a big step toward preserving these incredible ghosts.

" An Obsessive Quest To Photograph Florida's Ghost Orchid Pollinators ."  Earth Touch News Network .

Sadler, James J. et al. " Fragrance Composition Of Dendrophylax Lindenii (Orchidaceae) Using A Novel Technique Applied In Situ ."  European Journal of Environmental Sciences , vol 1, no. 2, 2012, pp. 137-141, doi:10.14712/23361964.2015.56

Houlihan, P.R., Stone, M., Clem, S.E.  et al.  " Pollination ecology of the ghost orchid ( Dendrophylax lindenii ): A first description with new hypotheses for Darwin’s orchids ."  Scientific Reports, vol. 9, 2019, doi:10.1038/s41598-019-49387-4

Mújica, Ernesto B et al. " A Comparision Of Ghost Orchid (Dendrophylax Lindenii) Habitats In Florida And Cuba, With Particular Reference To Seedling Recruitment And Mycorrhizal Fungi ."  Botanical Journal Of The Linnean Society , vol 186, no. 4, 2018, pp. 572-586, doi:10.1093/botlinnean/box106

Raventós, José et al . " Population Viability Analysis Of The Epiphytic Ghost Orchid (Dendrophylax Lindenii) In Cuba ."  Biotropica , vol 47, no. 2, 2015, pp. 179-189, doi:10.1111/btp.12202

Clem, Shawn, and Michael Duever. " Hydrologic Changes Over 60 Years (1959-2019) In An Old-Growth Bald Cypress Swamp On A Rapidly Developing Landscape ."  Wetland Science & Practice , vol 36, no. 4, 2019, pp. 362-372.

Nguyen H. Hoang, et al. " Comparative seed germination and seedling development of the ghost orchid,  Dendrophylax lindenii  (Orchidaceae), and molecular identification of its mycorrhizal fungus from South Florida ."  Annals of Botany , vol. 119, 2017, pp. 379–393, doi:10.1093/aob/mcw220

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Ghost Orchid Growing & Care Guide

Cody Medina

The Ghost Orchid is a rare and enigmatic flower that captures the imagination of botanists and nature enthusiasts alike. With its delicate white petals and ethereal beauty, this elusive orchid has become the stuff of legends.

Found only in select regions of Florida, Cuba, and the Bahamas, the Ghost Orchid has fascinated scientists and adventurers for centuries, drawing them into a world of mystery and intrigue.

We will discuss the captivating story of the Ghost Orchid, exploring its unique characteristics, its elusive nature, and the ongoing efforts to conserve and protect this extraordinary plant.

What is a Ghost Orchid?

The Ghost Orchid, scientifically known as Dendrophylax lindenii, is an enigmatic and mysterious flowering plant that has captured the fascination of botanists, nature enthusiasts, and orchid lovers alike. This rare and elusive orchid is native to the swamps and wetlands of Cuba, the Bahamas, and southern Florida in the United States.

The Ghost Orchid gets its intriguing name from its ethereal appearance, which gives it the illusion of being a ghostly apparition floating in the forest. Unlike most orchids, which rely on their green leaves for photosynthesis, the Ghost Orchid lacks chlorophyll and depends on its host trees for survival. It attaches itself to the trunks or branches of specific tree species, such as the bald cypress or pond apple, using its specialized aerial roots.

This unique adaptation allows the Ghost Orchid to extract nutrients and moisture from the air and rainwater, making it an epiphytic orchid. It is often found in shady and humid habitats, nestled among the dense foliage of its host trees. Due to its elusive nature and specific habitat requirements, the Ghost Orchid is considered one of the rarest and most endangered orchids in the world.

The Ghost Orchid has a distinctive appearance that sets it apart from other orchids. It typically has a single, white, waxy flower that blooms from a long, slender stem. The flower is about three inches wide and has a delicate, ethereal beauty. The petals and sepals are long and slender, and the lip is fringed with intricate, thread-like structures that resemble delicate tendrils. The fragrance of the Ghost Orchid is said to be intoxicating, often described as a blend of jasmine and honeysuckle.

One of the most intriguing aspects of the Ghost Orchid is its blooming behavior. Unlike most orchids, which have predictable flowering seasons, the Ghost Orchid is known for its sporadic and unpredictable blooming patterns. It can go several years without blooming, making the sight of a blooming Ghost Orchid a truly special and rare event.

Where is the Ghost Orchid native?

Native to the tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas, the Ghost Orchid has a relatively small distribution range. It can be found in various countries such as Cuba, the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico. However, within the United States, the Ghost Orchid is limited to specific states, making it a truly unique and treasured native species.

Within the United States, this plant is primarily found in the southern region of Florida. This includes areas such as the Everglades National Park, Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve, and Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. These locations offer the ideal habitat for the Ghost Orchid, with their humid and swampy environments providing the necessary conditions for its growth and survival.

While the Ghost Orchid’s range is mostly concentrated in Florida, there have been a few rare sightings of the orchid in other states. These sightings are considered rare and sporadic, making the Ghost Orchid a true botanical gem for those lucky enough to witness it outside of its primary habitat. Some of the states where it has been occasionally spotted include Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi.

It is important to note that locating the Ghost Orchid can be quite challenging, as it tends to grow high up in the canopy of trees, often hidden from view. Furthermore, due to its rarity and protected status, its exact locations are often kept confidential to prevent unauthorized collection or disturbance.

How to start from seed

Known for its ethereal beauty and ghostly appearance, this orchid has captured the imaginations of many. While it is notoriously difficult to cultivate, starting Ghost Orchids from seed can be a rewarding and exciting endeavor.

  • Acquiring Ghost Orchid Seeds: Obtaining seeds can be a challenge, as this species is endangered and protected in many areas. However, there are specialized orchid nurseries and conservation organizations that may have a limited supply of seeds available for purchase or for research purposes. It is important to ensure that the seeds are obtained legally and ethically.
  • Creating the Ideal Growing Environment: Ghost Orchids are epiphytic orchids, meaning they naturally grow on trees rather than in soil. To recreate their natural habitat, you will need to create a suitable growing environment. Start by selecting a container or tray with good drainage. Fill it with a mixture of sphagnum moss, tree fern fiber, and orchid bark to provide a loose and well-draining medium for the seeds.
  • Sterilizing the Growing Medium: Before planting the Ghost Orchid seeds, it is crucial to sterilize the growing medium to prevent the growth of harmful bacteria or fungi. This can be done by heating the medium in an oven at a temperature of 180°F (82°C) for about 30 minutes. Allow it to cool completely before proceeding.
  • Sowing the Seeds: Carefully scatter the Ghost Orchid seeds onto the surface of the sterilized growing medium. Since Ghost Orchid seeds are extremely small and dust-like, they should be handled with great care. Avoid burying or covering the seeds, as they require light for germination. Gently mist the surface of the medium with water to ensure the seeds adhere to it.
  • Creating a Humid Environment: Ghost Orchid seeds require high levels of humidity for successful germination. To create a humid environment, cover the container or tray with a clear plastic lid or wrap it with plastic wrap. This will help retain moisture and create a mini greenhouse effect. Place the container in a warm and well-lit area, away from direct sunlight.
  • Patience and Monitoring: Germination of Ghost Orchid seeds can be a slow process, often taking several months or even up to a year. It is important to be patient and not disturb the seeds during this time. Regularly monitor the growing medium’s moisture levels, ensuring it remains consistently moist but not overly wet. Mist the medium lightly whenever it starts to dry out.
  • Transplanting and Care: Once the Ghost Orchid seedlings have developed several leaves and are large enough to handle, they can be carefully transplanted into individual pots. Use a well-draining orchid mix and provide them with proper orchid care, including regular watering, indirect sunlight, and appropriate temperature and humidity levels. Ghost Orchids are delicate and require special attention, so it is essential to research their specific care requirements.

How to grow this plant in your garden

With its ethereal appearance and elusive nature, cultivating the Ghost Orchid can be a rewarding but challenging endeavor. This guide helps with the essential steps and considerations for successfully growing this plant in your garden.

  • Understanding the Ghost Orchid’s Natural Habitat: The first step in growing the Ghost Orchid is to gain a thorough understanding of its natural habitat. These orchids are primarily found in the swamps and wetlands of Florida and Cuba, where they grow in dense, shaded areas. The Ghost Orchid typically grows on the trunks and branches of trees, often near water bodies. Recreating these conditions is crucial for the successful cultivation of this elusive orchid.
  • Providing the Ideal Growing Environment: To grow Ghost Orchids, it is essential to replicate their natural environment as closely as possible. This includes providing the right amount of light, humidity, and temperature. The Ghost Orchid thrives in dappled shade and prefers high humidity levels. You can achieve this by placing the orchid in a terrarium or greenhouse with controlled conditions. Use a humidifier or mist the orchid regularly to maintain the appropriate humidity level.
  • Selecting the Right Potting Medium: Choosing the correct potting medium is crucial for the Ghost Orchid’s growth. These orchids prefer a loose, well-draining medium that mimics the tree bark they naturally grow on. A popular choice is a mix of sphagnum moss and tree fern fiber. This combination provides sufficient moisture retention while allowing water to drain away, preventing root rot.
  • Watering and Feeding: Proper watering is vital for the Ghost Orchid’s well-being. It is essential to maintain consistently moist but not waterlogged conditions. Water the orchid when the potting medium feels slightly dry to the touch. Ensure that excess water drains away to prevent stagnant conditions. Fertilize the Ghost Orchid with a balanced orchid fertilizer every few weeks during the growing season to provide necessary nutrients.
  • Propagation Techniques: Propagating Ghost Orchids can be challenging due to their specific requirements. One common method is through seed germination, which requires careful sterilization and dedication. Another option is vegetative propagation, where you separate keikis (baby orchids) from the mother plant and grow them individually. Both methods require patience and expertise but can lead to successful propagation.

Growing the Ghost Orchid is a rewarding but demanding endeavor that requires careful attention to its unique requirements. By understanding its natural habitat, providing the ideal growing environment, selecting the right potting medium, watering, and feeding appropriately. Additionally, by exploring propagation techniques, you can increase your chances of successfully cultivating this elusive and captivating orchid. Remember to approach this process with patience and a sense of wonder, as the Ghost Orchid truly is a remarkable treasure of the botanical world.

Interesting facts about Ghost Orchid

The Ghost Orchid is a rare and mysterious orchid species that has captured the fascination of botanists and nature enthusiasts alike. Here are some intriguing facts about this enigmatic flower:

  • Elusive and Rare: The Ghost Orchid is one of the rarest orchids in the world. It is native to the swamps and hammocks of Florida, Cuba, and the Bahamas. Due to its elusive nature and specific habitat requirements, it is challenging to spot in the wild. This rarity has contributed to the Ghost Orchid’s aura of mystique.
  • Non-photosynthetic Lifestyle: Unlike most plants, they do not rely on photosynthesis to obtain energy. Instead, it obtains nutrients from the surrounding environment. It achieves this by forming a symbiotic relationship with specific fungi, which provide the Ghost Orchid with necessary nutrients. This unique adaptation allows the orchid to survive in low-light environments such as the shaded swamps it calls home.
  • Ethereal Blooms: The Ghost Orchid produces delicate, white, and ghostly flowers, which give it its name. Each flower is typically around three inches in diameter and has a distinctive structure. The blooms are solitary and appear to float in mid-air, as they emerge from the stem without any visible leaves.
  • Fragrant Night Bloomer: The Ghost Orchid’s blooms are known for their captivating fragrance, which is described as a mix of sweet and citrusy notes. Interestingly, these flowers only open at night, releasing their scent to attract pollinators like moths and nocturnal insects. This nocturnal blooming behavior adds to the allure of this plant.
  • Endangered Status: Due to habitat destruction, illegal collection, and climate change, the Ghost Orchid is considered critically endangered. Protection efforts and conservation projects are underway to preserve and restore its natural habitats. The Ghost Orchid’s vulnerability and rarity make it a prized find for orchid enthusiasts, but it is crucial to prioritize its conservation.
  • Pop Culture Fame: The Ghost Orchid gained significant public attention after its portrayal in the non-fiction book “The Orchid Thief” by Susan Orlean, which was later adapted into the film “Adaptation.” This exposure brought the Ghost Orchid into the mainstream consciousness and further fueled interest in this remarkable and elusive flower.
  • Research and Discovery: Despite being studied for over a century, there is still much to learn about this plant. Scientists continue to explore its unique adaptations, symbiotic relationships, and genetic makeup. Each new discovery adds to our understanding of this fascinating plant and its intricate ecological role.

It is a captivating and mysterious orchid species that has captured the curiosity of botanists and nature lovers alike. Its rarity, non-photosynthetic lifestyle, ethereal blooms, endangered status, and cultural significance make it a plant of great interest and conservation concern. As we continue to uncover its secrets, the Ghost Orchid serves as a reminder of the beauty and complexity of the natural world.

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Discovery reveals secrets about how ghost orchids reproduce

Incredible photos show multiple species pollinate the rare and enigmatic flower, which is good news for the endangered species..

Moths pollinating rare ghost orchids.

Deep in remote Florida swamps, a team of researchers and photographers have made a new discovery that upends what we thought we knew about the ghost orchid, one of the world’s most iconic flowers, and how it reproduces.

These rare, charming orchids were long thought to be pollinated by a single insect: the giant sphinx moth. This massive creature sounds like a miniature jet as it zooms through the swamp with a six-inch wingspan, says conservation scientist Peter Houlihan .

The Everglades wetlands were once dominated by large cypress trees, home to epiphytes and orchids, like ...

But now, photographs by Carlton Ward Jr. and Mac Stone show that a couple of moth species other than the giant sphinx visit and carry the ghost orchid ’s pollen—and the giant sphinx itself may play a completely different role than previously thought.

These results provide insight into the plant’s virtually unknown reproductive biology, and they suggest that conserving the endangered species may be less difficult than assumed, since it’s not dependent on only one pollinator, says Houlihan, who collaborated with Ward and Stone to make the discovery. The findings also show the ghost orchids can be important food sources for moths.

“It’s very good news,” Stone says.

Ghost orchids are found in Florida and Cuba, and there are only about 2,000 ghost orchids in the state. As few as 10 percent of them flower each year during an unpredictable window in the summer. The plant has no leaves, consisting of green roots that cling to the bark of several tree species. When they aren’t blooming, they look like unremarkable bits of green linguine, and are difficult to find.

They also generally live in swamps that are not easy to access—and home to animals such as bears, panthers, alligators, and several venomous snake species, which dissuades many from attempting to see one.

Orchid fever

On a recent summer day in Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge , home to a quarter of the state’s ghosts, I spent many hours searching for one in bloom with Ward and refuge biologist Mark Danaher. We hiked through knee-deep water the colour of sweet tea from early morning until afternoon, marveling at the abundance of diversity of air plants and orchids. When we finally found a ghost, it was really magic.

The plant’s bright white, delicate flowers seem to hover above its stems, and the modified petals have long, curly legs that flutter in the breeze. In the centre of the flower is the entrance to a tube called a nectar spur, which contains sweet secretions. Ideally, the nectar will attract a moth, which will elongate its tongue-like proboscis and stick its head into the tube. If all goes well, the moth will contact the plant’s bundle of pollen, called a pollinium, which will stick to its head, and hopefully be carried on to fertilize another ghost .

These orchids have long nectar spurs, stretching five inches or more in length, though this varies. Given the size of the tube, it has long been thought that only the giant sphinx moths would be capable of reaching the nectar.

But when Ward set up several remote camera traps in this wildlife refuge, he documented five species of moths visiting these ghost orchids. Two of these species, fig sphinx ( Pachylia ficus ) and rustic sphinx ( Manduca rustica ), had ghost orchid pollinia on their heads.

Stone and Houlihan worked out of Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary , one of the world’s largest old-growth cypress forests, a 45-minute drive to the northwest.

The sanctuary, owned and operated by the National Audubon Society, has set up a scope for visitors to see a massive ghost orchid, known as the “super ghost.” This flower sits 50 feet up on a cypress, and it’s the only ghost that is relatively easy to see. The orchid currently has eight flowers, “which is just insane,” Stone says—most plants put out only one flower at a time.

In 2018, Stone (assisted by Houlihan) spent countless hours setting up a camera on this orchid, tree-climbing and tinkering.

Biologist Peter Houlihan sets up a light trap 90-feet in a cypress tree. Attracted to different ...

Stone, who lives in South Carolina, says that during the height of the work last summer, he’d often lay awake at night thinking about how to perfect the shots. “I’d book a last-minute flight and then just move my camera an inch,” he says. “It was just madness.”

All experienced a bit of orchid fever. “I do think it’s possible that orchids drive people crazy,” Ward says: The two photographers had their cameras trained on the flowers for a total of 7,000 hours.

But all this work paid off. In August Mac captured photos of a fig sphinx visiting the flower with ghost orchid pollinia on its head, complementing Ward’s pictures of the same in the panther refuge. Results from the collaborators have been submitted but have not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Both photographers also revealed giant sphinxes visiting the ghosts—but the insects weren't carrying any pollinia. In one shot by Stone, the moth can clearly by seen drinking nectar, but its head is not nearly close enough to the flower to pick up the pollinium.

This led to a wild hypothesis: Perhaps the giant sphinxes steal nectar from the ghost orchids without pollinating them, Houlihan says. His research also turned up a dozen local hawkmoth species (including Pachylia ficus and Manduca rustica ) that have tongues that are long enough to theoretically sup the orchid’s sugar.

“There are probably lots of moths that can pollinate these flowers,” he says.

Blame Darwin

There are many flower species that are pollinated by a single moth or butterfly.

Most famously, in 1862, Darwin examined a Madagascar orchid now named after him (Darwin’s orchid, or Angraecum sesquipedale ) that has a foot-long nectar tube. He was somewhat exasperated, as he hadn’t heard of any moth with a 12-inch tongue. “Good heavens,” he wrote, “what insect can suck it?” He hypothesised that there must be an insect in the area with just such a proboscis.

He was proven right 130 years later, when Morgan’s sphinx moth ( Xanthopan morganii ) was seen feeding from the orchid with its huge tongue. Houlihan’s studies of this moth, funded by the National Geographic Society, helped lead to his work on ghost orchids.

This example may have rubbed off on people’s thinking about the ghost orchid, says Larry Zettler , an orchid expert at Illinois College. “Everyone assumed the same kind of thing would happen with the ghost orchid, because you don’t have this massive nectar spur for no reason,” he says.

But having multiple pollinators, which apparently isn’t the case for Darwin’s orchid, will help to provide more opportunities for the ghost orchid to successfully reproduce.

“It’s good to have redundancy in ecosystems,” says Mike Owen, a biologist at Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve , where he and his colleagues have discovered 450 ghost orchids since 1993.

Orchid thieves

Two months after Owen started his job, horticulturist John Laroche, along with two members of the Seminole tribe, were stopped while attempting to remove dozens of valuable air plants and orchids from the preserve. This haul including three ghost orchids—a story told, along with the giant-sphinx-only pollination theory, in Susan Orleans’ book The Orchid Thief and the film based on it, Adaptation .

Since that time, the reserve has introduced various measures to reduce poaching, such as installing camera traps. The same is true in the panther refuge, Danaher says, where more than 40 cameras have been installed to catch photos of wildlife and would-be poachers.

Poaching is not only illegal, but a terrible idea, because ghost orchids invariably die after being moved even slightly, Owen says. They require very specific micro-environments, which is why they thrive in Florida’s swamps, where flowing water slowly passes through, moderating temperatures and humidity. Fakahatchee Strand, a channel of low-lying, oft-flooded strand forest has the highest diversity of air plants and orchids in the continental U.S.

Development in South Florida has severely altered water flows that are so vital to the ecosystem and the orchids, but the importance of this untrammeled flow is being increasingly recognized.

The importance of old-growth

It’s also crucial to conserve remaining old-growth forests, which are home to ghosts and many other rare plants and animals, says Shawn Clem , research director for the sanctuary.

A lake in the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, where ghost orchid pollination was documented by ...

The super ghost itself shows people that the flower is not an abstract concept—but a very real plant that depends on a healthy flow of water to survive, she says. The new discovery about the ghosts’ pollinators “speaks to the need for conserving places like Corkscrew so that we can continue to understand the complex ecology of the region,” Clem adds.

Cypress trees once covered much or most of southwestern Florida, and Corkscrew offers a glimpse of how the land once appeared. Many trees reach to heights of around a hundred feet, and some of them are about 600 years old.

The super ghost is by far the highest situated of its species, and one of only few known to occur in cypress trees. But Houlihan and Stone think that, once, it was probably a common scenario—and these highly perched plants were likely incredibly important for seeding the understory below.

“This is just one reason why these old-growth forests are so important,” Stone says.

The plants produce hundreds of thousands of tiny seeds, which are distributed by air currents, and as you can imagine, it’s easier for seeds to drift downward from a high spot than to be lifted upward.

When the seeds land in a choice spot, they must also come into contact with the right kind of fungus. This is the case for all orchids, and many of them require an individual species. Zettler recently discovered that ghost orchids can only germinate in the presence of one species, in the genus Ceratobasidium .

That being said, Mike Kane , a horticulturist at the University of Florida, has figured out how to cultivate ghost orchids in the lab. That discovery has already helped to increase the supply of plants, some of which have been replanted to the wild, in places like the panther refuge.

There, and in the Fakahatchee and Big Cypress National Preserve, the ghost orchids are primarily found in pop ash trees, followed by pond apples. These trees are much shorter than cypresses, and many of the ghost orchids there are only a few feet off the ground.

When I finally saw my first such bloom, chest-high, with lip-like petals and a striking bright white colour, I began to see how orchids hold such strange power over people. Ward is a good example.

After seeing his first flowering ghost in July 2012, in the Fakahatchee preserve, he returned for three days in a row to get the right shot—and has been photographing them ever since.

“The ghost orchid motivated me to explore these swamps,” Ward says, “and I hope its story can inspire others to protect the places where it lives.”

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North American Orchid Conservation Center

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Dendrophylax lindenii (lindl.) benth. ex rolfe, ghost orchid, palm polly.

ghost orchid tree

Facts About

Accepted Synonyms: Aeranthes lindenii, Polyradicion lindenii, Polyrrhiza lindenii Dendrophylax lindenii, the Ghost Orchid, grows in Cuba and the West Indies and Florida where it was known to occur in three southern counties. The Ghost Orchid is leafless with chlorophyllous roots that are gray-green in color with short white markings and are 3-5 mm wide to over 50 cm long. During May-August, a small percentage of the plants produce one white flower, rarely two, with sepals and petal that are similar. The labellum is 3-lobed with the center lobe triangular in shape, flanked by two elongated, tapered lobes. This orchid grows on several tree species in hardwood hammocks, tramways and sloughs, and cypress domes. Although Dendrophylax lindenii is considered vulnerable across its range, in Florida, this orchid is endangered where it is threatened by illegal collection and disruption of wetland hydrology.

Pollination

It was once believed that the night flying Giant Sphinx Moth, Cocytius antaeus, was the only insect in North America with a long enough proboscis to reach the nectar in this orchid's long spur and pollinate its flowers. Recent field work has documented other moth species such as Eumorpha labruscae and Protambulyx shigilis visiting the flowers and two other moths, Dolba hyloeus and Pachylia ficus were observed with ghost orchid pollinia on their heads.

Ecosystem Type

Swamps, woodlands

Characteristics

  • the labellum has a spur
  • the labellum is lobed

May - August

  • the lateral petals are ascending
  • the lateral petals are spreading

Fruits or seeds

Growth form, facts and uses, native to north america, north american conservation status & distribution, conservation status.

Select a location to view conservation status:

North America Distribution

Adapted from USDA data

ghost orchid tree

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Garden stories, garden's ghost orchid shines in global spotlight.

Our ghost orchid—a star at London’s Chelsea Flower Show and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew—was set up for success by an international conservation team.

Ghost orchid

The unexpected call came in mid-February. Could the Chicago Botanic Garden present a blooming ghost orchid on a global stage in London?

An international team of orchid experts would work with us to get the rare plant to the Royal Horticultural Society’s Chelsea Flower Show in late May. At Chelsea, one of the most prestigious flower shows in the world, the endangered ghost orchid would star in a first-of-its-kind conservation exhibition. 

Never mind that the ghost orchid ( Dendrophylax lindenii ) usually blooms in summer—not May. Never mind that we didn’t have enough time to get the special permits to transport the plant into the United Kingdom. Never mind that we weren’t sure how the heat- and humidity-loving ghost orchid would hold up in travel.

The Garden is one of the few institutions in the world to have ghost orchids; the plant is notoriously difficult to grow outside of its natural habitat in Florida and Cuba. In the Mildred Plant Orchidarium , we've raised ghost orchids from tiny seedlings in flasks, with roots an inch or so long. We’ve even had a ghost orchid bloom before, under the care of Johanna Hutchins, the Garden’s Julie Plant Grainger orchid floriculturist.

When we got the phone call about Chelsea, we had a bit of hope—one of our ghost orchids had a small spike, a sign of a potential bloom.

Hutchins jumped into Zoom meetings and email conversations with Chelsea’s Orchid Conservation Team, along with Adam Dooling, our director of collections. The international team helped us work through the complicated permit process and other issues. These top orchid specialists from eight institutions put their collective might and expertise behind us. Senator Tammy Duckworth and Congressman Brad Schneider also supported our efforts.

One week before her departure date, Hutchins had the required permits. She boarded a red-eye flight to London with a single budding ghost orchid in hand.

In a protective case, the ghost orchid made it through the flight, customs, and a quarantine at Kew Gardens. Meanwhile, at Chelsea, Hutchins and the international team got to work on the exhibition.

All collaborators brought a wealth of knowledge and added their own touches to tell people the story of the night-blooming ghost orchid. Stetson University researchers, for instance, re-created the plant’s sweet, fruity scent—which attracts pollinating moths—and brought along vials of the fragrance.

Together, team members built a scene reminiscent of tropical Florida. They covered a giant crabapple tree with air plants, Spanish moss, and bromeliads, as a backdrop for our ghost orchid. The display also included orchids donated by the Chicago Botanic Garden and other institutions, as well as native orchids from Britain and the Republic of Cameroon.

As people took in the eye-catching display, Hutchins and other experts talked about conservation efforts for Dendrophylax lindenii.

The ghost orchid was a jumping-off point for a broader discussion of all orchids threatened with extinction worldwide, along with their habitats.

In the chilly pavilion, temperatures dropped to the upper-40 degrees Fahrenheit. On some nights, Hutchins tucked heat packs into the crook of the crabapple tree to try to keep the ghost orchid warm and its chances for a bloom alive.

The budding ghost orchid drew huge crowds and media attention. Some visitors kept returning to see if the ghost orchid had bloomed, especially after they spotted tantalizing hints—a swollen bud and elongated nectar spur.

Johanna Hutchins, the Chicago Botanic Garden’s orchid floriculturist

Johanna Hutchins, the Chicago Botanic Garden’s orchid floriculturist, tucks heat pads near the ghost orchid to keep it warm.

Budding ghost orchid

Our budding ghost orchid drew crowds at the Chelsea Flower Show.

Johanna Hutchins answers questions at the Chelsea Flower Show

Hutchins answers questions at the Chelsea Flower Show about the featured ghost orchid.

Ghost orchid in bloom in UK

The Chicago Botanic Garden’s ghost orchid bloomed at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in London.

As it turned out, the plant was just getting ready for its second act.

When the Flower Show ended, we donated our ghost orchid to Kew Gardens. Hutchins dropped by for a behind-the-scenes tour of the Princess of Wales Conservatory and look at the ghost orchid, mounted behind two layers of glass in a terrarium.

After she left, her collaborators at Kew texted her daily pictures so she could track the bud’s progress. Finally, a few days later, Hutchins got the news that she had been hoping for—the ghost orchid was in bloom.

The BBC, The Times of London, and other media covered the big news. Stories noted that Dendrophylax lindenii had bloomed for the first time in the United Kingdom—and that the ghost orchid had come from the Chicago Botanic Garden.

In the end, everything worked out for the best. The ghost orchid captivated an audience at Chelsea and another one at Kew. And the Orchid Conservation Team is already discussing other potential collaborations.

“I am thrilled, honestly, that our ghost orchid is part of the collection at Kew and was so effective at spreading a conservation message,” Hutchins said.

Together, we showed what was possible—for a glorious, shining moment, a single ghost orchid had captured the public’s imagination and symbolized the importance of protecting plants in our fragile world.

Ghost orchid team

Hutchins and Lynnaun Johnson, Ph.D., who studied ghost orchids while pursuing his doctoral degree at the Garden, and other Garden staff at Chelsea: Jessica Wong, Veronica Harry-Jackson, and Hilary Noble.

All photos courtesy of Johanna Hutchins

Author: Renee T. Title: Senior Writer and Editor, Communications Published: Jul 03, 2023 Category: Plant Science & Conservation

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Facts About The Ghost Orchid

Ghost Orchid

Ghost orchid is a perennial orchid that is an epiphyte in nature. Lindenii in its scientific name is actually a name of a famous botanist from Belgium. This orchid was identified by Jean Jules Linden in 1844 in Cuba. It is a unique plant in the sense that there are no leaves and what one gets to see is only a thin network of roots wrapped around the branches of the host tree. These roots produce spikes that grow and bear flowers. The reason why this orchid is referred to as Ghost orchid is because of the fact that its flowers appear to be suspended in air like a ghost.

Facts about the Ghost Orchid

  • Habitat: Cuba, Bahamas, and Florida
  • Scientific name: Dendrophylax lindenii
  • Other common names: Ghost orchid, white frog orchid, palm polly

It is a rare species of orchids because it is very difficult to cultivate in home conditions. It loves its natural habitat that includes marshes and swamps where there are a lot of damp and humid conditions. It is difficult to identify this orchid even in its natural habitat because their roots grow on the branches of trees. The roots perform the functions of photosynthesis and they also help to absorb moisture for the plant. These roots have different shades like grey, green and white and they blend well with the color of the bark of the tree on which they grow. As these plants have no leaves and bloom for a short time period (3 weeks during April and August), it is easy to overlook them even in their natural habitat. One ingenious method to identify this orchid in its natural habitat is through the smell of this plant. Ghost orchid produces soap like smell when it is blooming.

If you take a look at the flowers of this orchid, you see either a white frog flying in the air or a ghost floating in air from here and there. This could be quite intimidating for anyone moving in the natural habitat of this orchid in Everglades or a forest in Cuba. As far as structure of the flowers is concerned, it has three sepals and three white petals. What is surprising is that Ghost orchid produces only one flower at a time. However, there have been plants that produced up to 10 flowers at the same time. After maturing, Ghost orchid plant can go without flowering for many years.

The flowers of Ghost orchid bloom are seen blooming between May and August every year. The flowers can grow up to a size of 4-5 inches. These flowers last up to a period of 14 days. The pollens are secured deep inside the flower that are accessed only a by a giant moth with large antennae. Pollination can be done by hand by using cotton swabs and then inserting these swabs into the flowers of the female ghost orchid plant.

It is very difficult to grow Ghost orchids in home conditions as you need to recreate conditions of very high humidity and high temperatures. This plant needs diffused light conditions and also frequent misting to grow. This is the reason why ghost orchids have been grown inside greenhouses only.

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The Ghost Orchid: one of Britain's rarest plants

The Herefordshire Ghost Orchid, 2009

The Herefordshire Ghost Orchid, 2009

Distribution map of Ghost Orchids in Britain (all records: data courtesy of Botanical Society of the British Isles 2013).

Eleanor Vachell, c. 1930.

Eleanor Vachell, c. 1930.

A 1953 Ghost Orchid collected by Rex Graham

A 1953 Ghost Orchid collected by Rex Graham

The 1982 Herefordshire Ghost Orchid preserved in formalin

The 1982 Herefordshire Ghost Orchid preserved in formalin

The Welsh National Herbarium at Amguedfa Cymru has a small - but very precious - collection of Ghost Orchids ( Epipogium aphyllum Sw.); is this something to be proud of, or should they have been left in the wild? The answer lies in the donations to the Museum, and slugs...

Ghost Orchids are among the rarest plants in Britain. They have been found in about 11 sites in the Chilterns and West Midlands in England, but such is their rarity and the secrecy surrounding them that it is difficult to be sure exactly how many sites there are.

Regarded as extinct

Ghost Orchids were first discovered in Britain in 1854 but were only seen 11 times before the 1950s. They were seen regularly in a few Chilterns sites between 1953 and 1987 but then disappeared and were regarded as extinct until one plant was discovered in 2009. In most sites they have only been seen once, and rarely for more than ten years in any one site.

Ghost orchids - a fleeting occurrence in dark, shaded woods

Ghost Orchids get their name from their creamy-white to pinkish-brown colour and their fleeting occurrences in dark, shaded woods. The colour results from the absence of chlorophyll, as they are parasites of fungi associated with tree roots, and they do not need to photosynthesise their own food. They spend most of their lives as rhizomes (underground shoots) in the soil or leaf litter of woodlands, and flowering shoots only occasionally appear above ground. Even then, their small size (usually less than 15cm, rarely up to 23cm) and unpredictable appearance between June and October means that Ghost Orchids are rarely seen.

Until recently the only British specimen held by Amgueddfa Cymru was a scrap of rhizome collected for Eleanor Vachell in 1926 - her herbarium is one of the most comprehensive ever put together by a British botanist - who donated her collection to the Museum when she died in 1949. The story of how the fragment of Ghost Orchid was discovered is given in her botanical diary:

" 28 May 1926 . The telephone bell summoned Mr [Francis] Druce to receive a message from Mr Wilmott of the British Museum. Epipogium aphyllum had been found in Oxfordshire by a young girl and had been shown to Dr [George Claridge] Druce and Mrs Wedgwood. Now Mr Wilmott had found out the name of the wood and was ready to give all information!!! Excitement knew no bounds. Mr Druce rang up Elsie Knowling inviting her to join the search and a taxi was hurriedly summoned to take E.V. [=Eleanor Vachell] and Mr Druce to the British Museum to collect the particulars from Mr Wilmott. The little party walked to the wood where the single specimen had been found and searched diligently that part of the wood marked in the map lent by Mr Wilmott but without success, though they spread out widely in both directions... Completely baffled, the trio, at E.V.'s suggestion, returned to the town to search for the finder. After many enquiries had been made they were directed to a nice house, the home of Mrs I. ?, who was fortunately in when they called. E.V. acted spokesman. Mrs I. was most kind and after giving them a small sketch of the flower told them the name of the street where the girl who had found it lived. Off they started once more. The girl too was at home and there in a vase was another flower of Epipogium ! In vain did Mr Druce plead with her to part with it but she was adamant! Before long however she had promised to show the place to which she had lead Dr Druce and Mrs Wedgwood and from which the two specimens had been gathered. Off again. This time straight to the right place, but there was nothing to be seen of Epipogium ! 2 June 1926 . A day to spare! Why not have one more hunt for Epipogium ? Arriving at the wood, E.V. crept stealthily to the exact spot from which the specimen had been taken and kneeling down carefully, with their fingers they removed a little soil, exposing the stem of the orchid, to which were attached tiny tuberous rootlets! Undoubtedly the stem of Dr Druce's specimen! Making careful measurements for Mr Druce, they replaced the earth, covered the tiny hole with twigs and leaf-mould and fled home triumphant, possessed of a secret that they were forbidden to share with anyone except Mr Druce and Mr Wilmott. A few days later E.V. received from Mr Druce an excited letter of thanks and a box of earth containing a tiny rootlet that he had found in the exact spot they had indicated." [Source: Forty, M. & Rich, T. C. G., eds. (2006). The botanist. The botanical diary of Eleanor Vachell (1879-1948). National Museum of Wales, Cardiff.]

Eleanor shared the rootlet with her great friend Elsie Knowling, who also had a herbarium. Coincidentally, the two fragments have been reunited at the Museum after being apart for 84 years.

In 1953, Elsie's son Rex Graham stumbled across 22 Ghost Orchids in a Buckinghamshire wood, the largest colony of ever seen in Britain (Graham 1953). This was the first time that Ghost Orchids had been seen for 20 years and it made the national press. At the time Rex collected only three specimens, but over the next few years he collected more when they were found eaten off by slugs. Eventually Rex had four specimens for his own herbarium, to add to the scrap in his mother's herbarium. The Ghost Orchids were amongst the treasures in Graham & Harley herbarium, which was donated to Amgueddfa Cymru in 2010.

The third collection is the Museum's only specimen preserved in spirit (rather than being pressed and dried) so that the three dimensional structure of the flower can be seen. Dr Valerie Richards (formerly Coombs) was looking for wild orchids in Herefordshire in 1982 when she discovered a single ghost orchid in a new site. When she took a local botanist to the site a few days later, a slug had eaten through the stem. She picked it up and took it home and preserved it in formalin like the zoological specimens she had been used to working with during her university days. The specimen was kindly donated to the Museum in 2013.

The fourth and final collection resulted from the hard work and intuition of Mark Jannink combined with another hungry slug. Mark wondered if Ghost Orchids flowered more frequently after cold winters. He researched all previous Ghost Orchid discoveries - their preferred habitat, time of flowering and weather patterns - then staked out ten possible sites in the West Midlands, visiting them every two weeks throughout the summer of 2009, following the first cold winter for many years. Finally in September, he discovered one small specimen - causing great excitement amongst botanists, as the Ghost Orchid had been declared officially extinct in 2005! Mark returned several times over the next few days as the plant gradually faded and 'browned', until the stem was once again eaten through by slugs. The remains were collected and pressed, and donated to our herbarium shortly after.

So five of the seven British Ghost Orchids in Amgueddfa Cymru have been collected as a consequence of slugs, which are more of a threat than botanists. The Ghost Orchids are fully protected by law under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 but nobody seems to have told that to the slugs!

We also have eight specimens from Europe, where Ghost Orchids are more widespread, though still rare. One of our best specimens was collected by W. A. Sledge in Switzerland.

You are welcome to visit the Welsh National Herbarium to see the Ghost Orchids, but don't expected us to reveal where they were found! And please leave your slugs at home.

Adapted for the website from the following article:

ghost orchid tree

The scrap of Ghost Orchid rootlet in Eleanor Vachell's herbarium. Also attached to the specimen are Dr George Claridge Druce's (1924) account of it from Gardeners Chronicle series 3 volume 76, page 114 and two small sketches by Miss Baumgartner.

Swiss Ghost Orchids collected by W. A. Sledge in 1955.

Swiss Ghost Orchids collected by W. A. Sledge in 1955.

The 2009 Ghost Orchid from Herefordshire.

The 2009 Ghost Orchid from Herefordshire.

  • Graham, R. A. (1953). Epipogium aphyllum Sw. in Buckinghamshire. Watsonia 3: 33 and tab. (http://archive.bsbi.org.uk/Wats3p33.pdf ).
  • Harley, R. M. (1962). Obituary: Rex Alan Henry Graham. Proceedings of the Botanical Society of the British Isles 4: 505-507.

For further information on Ghost Orchids see:

  • Farrell, L. (1999) Epipogium aphyllum Sw. page 136 in Wigginton, M. J. (1999) British Red Data Books 1. Vascular plants . 3rd edition. JNCC, Peterborough.
  • Foley, M. J. Y. & Clark, S. (2005) Orchids of the British Isles. The Griffin Press, Maidenhead.
  • Jannink, M. & Rich, T. C. G. (2010). Ghost orchid rediscovered in Britain after 23 years. Journal of the Hardy Orchid Society 7: 14-15.
  • Taylor, L. & Roberts, D. L. (2011). Biological Flora of the British Isles: Epipogium aphyllum Sw. Journal of Ecology 99 : 878–890. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2011.01839.x/abstract:

Comments - (1)

Most interesting. Please keep up the good work. Kind regards.

The Herefordshire Ghost Orchid, 2009

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Homestead Stories: The Ghost Orchid

Author: Emily-Jane Hills Orford // Last updated on September 6, 2023 Leave a Comment

With Halloween around the corner and the thought of ghosts and goblins prowling the darkened nights, how about a real flower that looks like a ghost?

Yes, that’s right. There is actually a flower called a ghost orchid, and its tiny, spindly flower with no leaves, looks eerily like a ghost clinging to the bark of trees.

Not found outside of Florida, the Bahamas, and Cuba, the ghost orchid ( Dendrophylax lindenii ) is sadly, becoming an endangered species. In Florida, there are around 2,000 ghost orchids. About 10 percent of them flower in a year, and only during a brief and unpredictable period of time in summer.

In fact, ghost orchids living for decades may only bloom a couple of times! It’s a shame to think the fragile, unique (and ghostly) apparitions that are both flowers and orchids, could disappear forever. Poof!

View this post on Instagram Photo by @CarltonWard | The seductive ghost orchid survives in remote South Florida swamps, usually hanging from twisted branches of a pond apple or pop ash tree forming cathedral arches above shadowed wetlands. Approximately 2,000 ghost orchids are known to exist, of which a small fraction bloom each year, and even a smaller number are pollinated. Once sought by collectors and smugglers, the ghost orchid is surrounded by cultural lore, including the book The Orchid Thief and movie Adaptation. Even today, the exact locations of these rare plants must be kept secret for their protection. The ghost orchid is thought to pollinated by the giant sphinx month, the only flying insect with mouth parts long enough to reach into the ghost orchids extended nectar spur. This summer I will be working with researchers to place precision camera traps near orchid blooms with hopes of capturing evidence of the pollination which is thought to happen in the middle of the night. Please follow @CarltonWard to join me in the swamps on this quest. And check out the work of fellow @NatGeo Explorer @Peter_Houlihan who has done his PhD on Ghost Orchids in the Fakahatchee Strand. #GhostOrchid #Orchid #Swamp #Everglades #PathofthePanther #FloridaWild #KeepFLWild. A post shared by National Geographic (@natgeo) on Jun 24, 2018 at 3:00am PDT

As much as I’d love to add this orchid to my collection, I’m afraid I’ll have to admire it from afar. The plant is actually leafless, consisting of bare green roots that cling in random patterns to the bark of specific trees.

This orchid is aptly named, given its ghastly spectral appearance. Because it clings to tree bark. The white flower — when it does bloom (which may be once a decade) — appears to hover in the forest. The lack of leaves makes it an apparition when it does bloom. But it’s also known as palm polly and white frog orchid due, no doubt, to its unique shape and habit of growing on trees.

Its beauty and rare existence make ghost orchids attractive to pirates seeking the unusual flowers. Yes, there are people who make it their life work to plunder the natural world for financial gain. And this work results in the growing decline of ghost orchids in their natural habitat.

View this post on Instagram The American Orchid Society will be emphasizing our Conservation Endowment, a permanent fund, the interest on which allows us to make grants for the specific protection of endangered orchid species and habitat. We partner with various other conservation groups and universities to actively encourage orchid conservation, one of our organization's major goals as we approach our Centennial anniversary in April 2021.  Please consider a gift to the AOS' Conservation Endowment as we enter this season of Giving. Click the link in our Profile to donate. PIctures:  ghost orchid by Greg Allikas, Sacoila lanceolata by Jennifer Reinoso, Eastern Prairie Fringed Orchid by Canadian website. A post shared by American Orchid Society (@americanorchidsociety) on Nov 27, 2019 at 5:53am PST

Can you grow these at home? Perhaps. But only nurseries in Florida supply this orchid. It’s very difficult and expensive for nurseries elsewhere as the financial risk in trying to maintain such a rare beauty is unmanageable — considering the plant’s very particular growing requirements.

Related Post: How to Care for Orchids

Those pirates who attempt to steal these plants from their natural environment are met with disappointing results. The ghost orchid usually dies in captivity. There are some botanists researching the possibility of seed germination, but this study is still in the early stages.

The ghost orchid lives up to its name not only in appearance, but also in the fact that its limited, scattered populations have put it on the endangered species list. It survives in swampy forests and small wooded islands. Its greatest threat to survival is human: poaching, climate change, destroyed habitat, and the decline of natural pollinators.

Interesting Facts About Ghost Orchids

Check out some interesting notes about this mystical floral phantom.

Their Blooming Time Is Short

When (and if) the orchid blooms, it happens once a year for a few weeks between June and August.

In any given year, just 10 percent of the ghost orchids bloom. Of that 10 percent, 10 percent will be pollinated.

Ghost Orchids Have No Leaves

The plant has scales instead of leaves and the entire plant appears to lack foliage, giving it the distinction of a leafless orchid.

The stem is also reduced, so without stems or leaves, and with only 10 percent of the ghost orchids blooming, it’s difficult to find these plants in their natural habitat.

The Ghost Orchid Is Mostly Roots

Since there are no leaves, and the stem is minimal, the ghost orchid consists mostly of roots that grow on and around a tree’s bark — instead of the typical orchid which would grow in the ground soil. As such, the ghost orchid is an epiphyte, latching onto its host tree like a parasite.

View this post on Instagram After seven years, the ghost orchid pollination manifesto is now published in @nature.research’s Scientific Reports, with research supported by @insidenatgeo (Link in Bio). Photo(s) by @macstonephoto. . Houlihan, Stone, Clem, Owen, & Emmel (2019). "Pollination ecology of the ghost orchid (Dendrophylax lindenii): A first description with new hypotheses for Darwin’s orchids." Scientific Reports, 9(1-10). . I dedicate this work to Tom Emmel. An icon in the world of conservation, scientific expeditions, Lepidoptera, & endangered species of Florida, Tom was larger than life. The Founding Director of the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera & Biodiversity @floridamuseum, he was more than my mentor, he was my fiercest advocate, my hero, and my friend. I would not be where or who I am today without him. Tom passed away last May on an expedition in Brazil, doing what he loved most. Nobody would have appreciated this discovery more, not even ol' Chuck Darwin. All of this beats at the core of his heart. Thank you, Tom. Wish you could’ve seen this one. I am forever grateful. . There is so much to say about this long journey, most importantly the conservation implications of our scientific research for an endangered species and the greater Everglades ecosystem. After seven years of secrecy, I’ll begin sharing this work through a series of posts, including related media about a group effort with @macstonephoto & @carltonward in @natgeo, @biographic_magazine, and @audubonsociety. Thank you to Fakahatchee @fl.stateparks and @corkscrewswamp for all of the support; to @macstonephoto, I appreciate you immensely – thank you for everything, on this research, exploration, photography, and far beyond. Much love. . Natural history research is always important. My hope is that these stories amplify the voice of the Everglades. The water that runs through these swamps gives us life, and we must do better in protecting them. The future of these wild places, the wildlife within, and humanity, all depend on us. . #ghostorchid #florida #everglades #orchid #conservation #natgeo A post shared by Peter Houlihan (@peter_houlihan) on Sep 6, 2019 at 2:58am PDT

Since there are no leaves to collect the sunlight for photosynthesis, the roots, which contain the necessary chlorophyll, take on this task. Not only do the roots anchor the plant on the tree, they also take in the water and nutrients the leaves would normally collect. These roots have small white marks (pneumatodes) to perform the gas exchange required for the plant’s respiration and photosynthesis.

Without the greenish blend offered by foliage, the plants root system is camouflaged against the tree bark when the plant isn’t blooming. When the flower does appear, it grows on a thin, spindly spike that projects away from the roots, giving the illusion it’s floating freely in the forest.

They Smell Like Apples

There is an interesting aroma to this plant when it’s in bloom. It actually kind of smells like apples, most noticeably in the early morning.

Giant Sphinx Moths Are Their Friend

The ghost orchid relies on the giant sphinx moth for pollination. The plant’s pollen is hidden deep within the flowers and needs a long proboscis for the insect to dig deep inside.

They Have 18 Preferred Host Trees

In Florida, the ghost orchid prefers the pop ash, pond apple, and bald cypress trees. In Cuba, it has at least 18 preferred host trees. Predators like the emerald ash borer are killing some of the host trees, thus depleting this plant’s natural habitat.

Poachers Are Making Them Extinct

With its rare and remote, inhospitable habitat, one would think an estimated 2,000 plants in South Florida alone would be enough to protect the orchid from plunderers. Unfortunately, the opposite is the case as this rarity makes a prime target for poachers eager to sell the plant on the black market. If they can find it, that is. The plants’ locations are kept secret and without prior knowledge of their habitat, very difficult to find. Especially when it’s not in flower.

There’s Fungus Among Us

Although almost impossible to cultivate, there is one fungus that seems to help. Michael Kane and other researchers studied the barks of trees where these plants prosper. It was discovered that the moist bark harbors the fungus genus, Ceratobasidium , which excels at a higher germination rate.

The Ghost Orchid Is a Movie Star

The ghost orchid can claim movie star greatness as its plundering plight made headlines in 1993 when poachers tried to steal over a hundred plants. The story made headlines and was made into a movie starring Meryl Streep and Nicolas Cage (Adaption, 2002) based on Susan Orlean’s book, The Orchid Thief .

View this post on Instagram Amongst the rarest flowers of the world, the ghost orchid was the subject of the book the Orchid Thief as well as the movie Adaptation, which starred Nicolas Cage and Meryl Streep. Only found in Florida, Cuba and the Bahamas, the endangered ghost orchid has been greatly affected over the years by poaching and habitat loss. It has an intricate relationship with its sole pollinator, the giant sphinx moth; where the moth’s extremely long tongue is the only one capable of reaching the sweet reward down the orchid’s nectar spur (pictured on the lower flower). Florida has a great variety of natural treasures, venture out and discover what it has to offer. 🙌🏼 #GhostOrchid A post shared by Mario Cisneros (@zeroeye) on Jun 10, 2018 at 6:49am PDT

With Florida’s wetlands threatened by development, drying up, and preyed upon by poachers, the ghost orchid may remain something of an apparitional enigma. Since I probably will not have the opportunity to grow one in my own, indoor orchid garden, or visit the protected areas where this plant grows at a time when the flowers appear, I doubt I’ll ever get to see these eerie, ghost-like anomalies in real life.

But I am continually amazed at flora that reflect the endless possibilities of nature’s creativity. Ghost orchids indeed. Too bad they only bloom in July and August in certain, limited environments. If only …

To learn more about the ghost orchid and to see some pretty remarkable shots of this elusive flower, check out this short film from National Geographic.

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About Emily-Jane Hills Orford

Emily-Jane Hills Orford is an award-winning author of several books, including Gerlinda (CFA 2016) which received an Honorable Mention in the 2016 Readers’ Favorite Book Awards, To Be a Duke (CFA 2014) which was named Finalist and Silver Medalist in the 2015 Next Generation Indie Book Awards and received an Honorable Mention in the 2015 Readers’ Favorite Book Awards. She writes about the extra-ordinary in life and her books, short stories, and articles are receiving considerable attention. For more information on the author, check out her website at: https://emilyjanebooks.ca

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The ‘ghost’ orchid Didymoplexis stella-silvae

‘Ghost’ orchid that grows in the dark among new plant finds

Hundreds of new species include pink voodoo lily and a ylang-ylang tree named after Leonardo DiCaprio

A ghost orchid that grows in complete darkness, an insect-trapping tobacco plant and an “exploding firework” flower are among the new species named by scientists in the last year. The species range from a voodoo lily from Cameroon to a rare tooth fungus unearthed near London, UK.

A new tree from the ylang-ylang family is the first to be named in 2022 and is being named after the actor and environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio. He campaigned to revoke a logging concession which threatened the African tree, which features glossy yellow flowers on its trunk.

The highlighted plants are among the 205 new species named in 2021 by scientists from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and their collaborators around the world. All are vital parts of the planet’s biodiversity and some may provide food and medicine.

However, several are already extinct in the wild and many threatened by the destruction of forests, expanding palm oil plantations and mining. There are 400,000 named plant species and two in five are threatened with extinction . The scientists said it was a race against time to identify new plants before they disappeared for ever.

In total, scientists across the world have named about 2,000 new plant species each year for at least a decade. “It’s almost bewildering that we’re still discovering so many,” said Dr Martin Cheek, at RBG Kew. “But now is our last chance to find unknown species, name them and hopefully protect them before they become globally extinct.”

The new ghost orchid is one of 16 new orchids from dense and remote forests in Madagascar. It was named Didymoplexis stella-silvae by Kew’s Johan Hermans, meaning “star of the forest” as it grows in complete darkness and has star-like flowers. It has no leaves or chlorophyll for photosynthesis and gets all its nutrients in symbiosis with underground fungi. The flower only pokes through the forest-floor humus for a day to attract pollinators, which may be ants.

Uvariopsis dicaprio, a tree from the ylang-ylang family found in Ebo Forest, Cameroon, named after Leonardo DiCaprio.

Three of the new orchids are already thought to be extinct in the wild due to destruction of their forest homes, including one tree-dwelling species that was probably eradicated due to the demand for geranium oil used in aromatherapy. “Sadly, Madagascar’s many unique plants are under threat from deforestation and droughts, floods, and fires caused by climate change,” said Hermans. “It really is a race against time.”

The unusual tobacco plant was among seven new species found near a truck stop in Western Australia and is covered in sticky glands that trap and kill insects, most likely as a defensive measure. “The arid parts of Australia, which include most of the continent, have been thought of as almost barren, but in recent years these poorly studied areas have yielded many new and unusual species,” said Prof Mark Chase, at RBG Kew.

The tropics are known hotspots for biodiversity and a spectacular new species of primrose found in Borneo was named Ardisia pyrotechnica because its shower of white flowers resembles exploding fireworks . However, it is already assessed as critically endangered, as only a few plants have been found in two locations and it is under threat from palm oil plantations.

“Who knows how many thousands of plant species it will be revealed in future to have likely become extinct due to palm oil plantations,” said Cheek. “It’s sickening.”

Ardisia pyrotechnica.

The new pink voodoo lily has a 30cm-tall flower spike and was found in a small corner of the vast Ebo Forest of Cameroon. The tree named after Di Caprio was also found in the Ebo Forest. But despite the cancelling of logging permits in August 2020 by the president of Cameroon, Uvariopsis dicaprio remains critically endangered because its habitat remains unprotected from potential future logging.

The new fungus was first found in the UK’s Windsor Great Park under a sweet chestnut tree in 2008, but not named until now as DNA analysis of a suite of species had to be completed together. It is one of a group of unusual fungi that form mushrooms with elongated teeth under their caps, rather than gills, and are becoming rarer due to nitrogen pollution from agriculture.

Another new species, a blue-berried bush from the coffee family found in Borneo, took even longer to be scientifically named. It was first seen by scientists in a painting by the eminent botanical artist Marianne North, made in 1876 during a stay by the Sarawak river.

One new species was discovered not in the wild, but in the laboratory. The microscopic fungus was found lurking in a wild banana seed from Vietnam kept at Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank in Sussex. Fusarium chuoi, which has a coral colour and a velvety texture, is an “endophyte”, a fungus that lives inside a plant without causing it any visible harm. Distinguishing these from pathogenic fungi is crucial for protecting plant health, the scientists said.

Among the other new species highlighted were a periwinkle from the Andean valleys in Bolivia, which has kiwi-like fruits that are edible when roasted and may also have medicinal properties and five pretty Cape primroses from the Democratic Republic of the Congo that are threatened by copper mining.

“So many of our medicines come directly from plants, or are inspired by compounds that come out of plants,” said Cheek. “If we make species extinct before we can even look at what chemicals are inside them, isn’t that bonkers?”

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Rare Florida Ghost Orchid flowers in UK for first time at Kew Gardens

Release date: 1 June 2023

Close up of a delicate white orchid flower against a tree trunk

The rare and endangered Ghost Orchid has flowered in UK for first time at Kew Gardens.

The orchid bud has been on show at an Orchid Conservation Display created by a collaboration between J.P. Wright Company of Florida and Grow Tropicals UK, as well as the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and other organisations. Following its time at Chelsea, the orchid has been rehomed at Kew Gardens in London, where it is on display to the public in the Princess of Wales Conservatory.

Dendrophylax lindenii is commonly known in America as the ghost orchid, and is surrounded by an air of mystery and intrigue. These leafless orchids bloom in the dark and shadows in Cuba and South Florida; the flowers possess a beautiful fragrance which is only released at night. Dendrophylax means ‘tree guardian’, and the roots wrap themselves protectively around the trunk of their host tree. Ghost orchid populations in Florida were decimated when their host trees, majestic 1,000-year-old

Taxodium distichum (bald cypress), were logged in World War II to provide lumber for aircraft carrier decks in the Pacific. Only around 1,500 Dendrophylax lindenii plants remain in South Florida and fewer than 500 are found in Cuba. The species is recorded as Endangered on IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.  

Habitat destruction is one of the leading causes for the decline of ghost orchid populations globally, and this display at Kew Gardens therefore aims to highlight the critical role which orchids play in ecosystems globally and the pressing need to conserve them. Drawing on expertise from RBG Kew and partner organisations*, visitors to the Princess of Wales Conservatory can learn more about recent efforts to find and protect the rare Florida Ghost Orchid, along with rare and endangered orchids which make up Kew’s living collection.

RBG Kew and Orchids

Dating back to at least 1787, RBG Kew has one of the oldest collections of living tropical orchids in the world, as well as the largest Orchid Herbarium, which holds over 400,000 preserved specimens. Today, RBG Kew’s living orchid collection contains around 8,000 plants, representing approximately 1,300 species. With some species now thought to be extinct in the wild, RBG Kew’s collection of living and preserved orchids is an invaluable resource for the scientific community, but the care of the collection falls to Kew’s team of skilled horticulturists, demonstrating the interconnection between horticulture and science. As one of the most biodiverse places in the world, RBG Kew is uniquely positioned as a centre of excellence in the application of scientific knowledge about plants, and it is this relationship that underpins Kew’s core purpose.

Why Orchids matter to the environment

Orchids are considered the canary in the coal mine for extinction, as they are extremely sensitive to changes in the environment and their disappearance from an area is often seen as an indicator of poor ecosystem health. Each year, Kew Gardens celebrates this important species with its famous Orchid Festival, in which the Princess of Wales Conservatory is adorned with over 5000 orchids displayed in innovative designs and sculptures. This year’s display was inspired by the beauty and biodiversity of Cameroon, a country that is home to 450 species of orchid – some so rare their locations must be kept secret for their own protection.

ABOUT ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, KEW

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a world-famous scientific organisation and conservation charity, internationally respected for its outstanding collections and scientific expertise in plant and fungal diversity, conservation, and sustainable development in the UK and around the globe. Kew’s scientists and partners lead the way in the fight against biodiversity loss and finding nature-based solutions to the climate crisis, aided by five key scientific priorities outlined in Kew’s Science Strategy 2021-2025. Kew Gardens is also a major international and top London visitor attraction. Kew’s 132 hectares of historic, landscaped gardens, and Wakehurst, Kew’s Wild Botanic Garden and ‘living laboratory’, attract over 2.5 million visits every year. Kew Gardens was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2003 and celebrated its 260th anniversary in 2019. Wakehurst is home to the Millennium Seed Bank, the largest wild plant seed bank in the world and a safeguard against the disastrous effects of climate change and biodiversity loss. RBG Kew received approximately one third of its funding from Government through the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and research councils. Further funding needs to support RBG Kew’s vital scientific and educational work comes from donors, memberships and commercial activity including ticket sales.

For tickets, please visit www.kew.org/kew-gardens/visit-kew-gardens/tickets . In the first six months since implementing a new accessibility scheme for those in receipt of Universal Credit, Pension Credit and Legacy Benefits, Kew has welcomed over 20,000 visitors with £1 tickets.

*The team includes world experts from Glasgow Botanic Gardens, Naples Botanical Garden, Chicago Botanic Garden, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Illinois College, Stetson University, University of Florida, Smithsonian’s North American Orchid Conservation Center (NAOCC) and Smithsonian Gardens.

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Ghost orchid may get protection under Endangered Species Act

With fewer than 1,500 "ghost orchids" left in the wild, the flower may soon be placed on the Endangered Species List

To keep the "ghost orchid" from being adored to death, federal wildlife officials said Tuesday the stealthy, rare, and beautiful flower may be added to the Endangered Species List by year's end.

“The ghost orchid has suffered a long decline in southern Florida and Cuba, in part due to its immense popularity,” said George Gann, executive director at The Institute for Regional Conservation. “Preventing extinction is the lowest conservation bar; our goal must be full recovery.”

The rare orchid seems to appear from nowhere and float in the air next to its host tree, but it’s there all the time. When not in bloom, the orchid has no leaves and grows tucked up close to its host tree, its roots camouflaged.

Summer rains and humidity often cause the flower to burst forth. At the same time it holds on to its host tree with wispy tendrils that can’t been seen from far away, which gives the orchid the appearance of floating ghost-like.

Rampant poaching of the ghost orchid has it in serious peril, and estimates of their numbers in the wild range from 750 to 1,500. Changing weather patterns, loss of wetlands, and development encroaching on swampy forests in South Florida have also contributed to the sharp decline in an already hard-to-find species.

A number of ghost orchids were probably lost during Hurricane Ian’s onslaught on South and Central Florida last month, although it's too early for an estimate. Strong hurricanes like Ian have reduced orchid numbers before.

Decision to come soon

The Fish and Wildlife Service is the federal agency able to grant Endangered Species Act protection to the ghost orchid, already a critically endangered flower. Under federal law, the agency has about three months to make the call.

In Florida, ghost orchids can be found in the Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park, Audubon’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary and additional conservation and tribal areas in Collier, Hendry and possibly Lee counties. It is also found in Cuba.

Among the many environmental group pushing for the ghost orchid to be listed as endangered are The Institute for Regional Conservation, the Center for Biological Diversity, and the National Parks Conservation Association.

In a recently filed petition the groups argue Fish and Wildlife should also designate its critical habitat, which the environmental organizations believe to be essential to the survival and recovery of the ghost orchid.

Admired worldwide

Orchid researchers routinely travel to faraway swamps and tropical forests searching for new species, which they often name after themselves or a spouse or child.

International theft of rare or newly discovered orchids is not unheard of, as propagation of a particularly notable, new, or gorgeous flower can be both lucrative and prestigious.

Melissa Abdo, a National Parks Conservation Association regional director in Florida, said she searched for six months before spotting a ghost orchid in the wild while waist-deep in a swamp in the middle of the Everglades. The orchid was wrapped around the trunk of a tree. It captivated her.

“I understand the pull this beautiful, rare plant species has on people, but its popularity comes at a steep price. Recent upticks in ghost orchid poaching have left the species in serious peril,” Abdo said Tuesday. “It deserves nothing less than the full federal protections necessary to keep this species alive and thriving.”

Local ghost orchid popular

The largest ghost orchid ever was discovered in 2007 inside Audubon Florida’s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary near Naples.

The now-famous orchid is still alive and when it blooms, usually between June and October, the flower draws international attention among the uber-enthusiastic world of orchid lovers.

"Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary provides the perfect habitat for an unknown number of ghost orchids,” said Renee Wilson, Florida Audubon’s senior communications coordinator. “The 2.25-mile-long boardwalk provides possibly the only opportunity to see a ghost orchid in its natural setting without getting your feet wet.”

Environmental reporting for WGCU is funded in part by  VoLo Foundation , a non-profit with a mission to accelerate change and global impact by supporting science-based climate solutions, enhancing education, and improving health. 

Sign up for WGCU's monthly environmental newsletter, the Green Flash , today.

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ghost orchid tree

a rustic sphinx moth probing a ghost orchid bloom

Discovery reveals secrets about how ghost orchids reproduce

Incredible photos show multiple species pollinate the rare and enigmatic flower, which is good news for the endangered species.

The first-ever photo showing a pawpaw sphinx moth ( Dolba hyloeus ) probing and likely pollinating a ghost orchid bloom, in the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge. It was previously thought only one species pollinated these flowers: the giant sphinx moth.

SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Deep in remote Florida swamps, a team of researchers and photographers have made a new discovery that upends what we thought we knew about the ghost orchid, one of the world’s most iconic flowers, and how it reproduces.

These rare, charming orchids were long thought to be pollinated by a single insect: the giant sphinx moth. This massive creature sounds like a miniature jet as it zooms through the swamp with a six-inch wingspan, says conservation scientist Peter Houlihan .

But now, photographs by Carlton Ward Jr. and Mac Stone show that a couple of moth species other than the giant sphinx visit and carry the ghost orchid ’s pollen—and the giant sphinx itself may play a completely different role than previously thought.

These results provide insight into the plant’s virtually unknown reproductive biology, and they suggest that conserving the endangered species may be less difficult than assumed, since it’s not dependent on only one pollinator, says Houlihan, who collaborated with Ward and Stone to make the discovery. The findings also show the ghost orchids can be important food sources for moths.

“It’s very good news,” Stone says.

Ghost orchids are found in Florida and Cuba, and there are only about 2,000 ghost orchids in the state. As few as 10 percent of them flower each year during an unpredictable window in the summer. The plant has no leaves, consisting of green roots that cling to the bark of several tree species. When they aren’t blooming, they look like unremarkable bits of green linguine, and are difficult to find.

They also generally live in swamps that are not easy to access—and home to animals such as bears, panthers, alligators, and several venomous snake species, which dissuades many from attempting to see one.

Orchid fever

On a recent summer day in Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge , home to a quarter of the state’s ghosts, I spent many hours searching for one in bloom with Ward and refuge biologist Mark Danaher. We hiked through knee-deep water the color of sweet tea from early morning until afternoon, marveling at the abundance of diversity of air plants and orchids. When we finally found a ghost, it was really magic.

The plant’s bright white, delicate flowers seem to hover above its stems, and the modified petals have long, curly legs that flutter in the breeze. In the center of the flower is the entrance to a tube called a nectar spur, which contains sweet secretions. Ideally, the nectar will attract a moth, which will elongate its tongue-like proboscis and stick its head into the tube. If all goes well, the moth will contact the plant’s bundle of pollen, called a pollinium, which will stick to its head, and hopefully be carried on to fertilize another ghost .

These orchids have long nectar spurs, stretching five inches or more in length, though this varies. Given the size of the tube, it has long been thought that only the giant sphinx moths would be capable of reaching the nectar.

But when Ward set up several remote camera traps in this wildlife refuge, he documented five species of moths visiting these ghost orchids. Two of these species, fig sphinx ( Pachylia ficus ) and pawpaw sphinx moths ( Dolba hyloeus ), had ghost orchid pollinia on their heads.

Stone and Houlihan worked out of Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary , one of the world’s largest old-growth cypress forests, a 45-minute drive to the northwest.

The sanctuary, owned and operated by the National Audubon Society, has set up a scope for visitors to see a massive ghost orchid, known as the “super ghost.” This flower sits 50 feet up on a cypress, and it’s the only ghost that is relatively easy to see. In mid-July, the orchid had eight flowers, “which is just insane,” Stone says—most plants put out only one flower at a time.

In 2018, Stone (assisted by Houlihan) spent countless hours setting up a camera on this orchid, tree-climbing and tinkering.

Stone, who lives in South Carolina, says that during the height of the work last summer, he’d often lay awake at night thinking about how to perfect the shots. “I’d book a last-minute flight and then just move my camera an inch,” he says. “It was just madness.”

All experienced a bit of orchid fever. “I do think it’s possible that orchids drive people crazy,” Ward says: The two photographers had their cameras trained on the flowers for a total of 7,000 hours.

But all this work paid off. In August Mac captured photos of a fig sphinx visiting the flower with ghost orchid pollinia on its head, complementing Ward’s pictures of the same in the panther refuge.

Both photographers also revealed giant sphinxes visiting the ghosts—but the insects weren't carrying any pollinia. In one shot by Stone, the moth can clearly by seen drinking nectar, but its head is not nearly close enough to the flower to pick up the pollinium.

This led to a wild hypothesis: Perhaps the giant sphinxes steal nectar from the ghost orchids without pollinating them, Houlihan says. His research also turned up a dozen local hawkmoth species (including the two species Ward photographed pollinating orchids) that have tongues that are long enough to theoretically sup the orchid’s sugar.

“There are probably lots of moths that can pollinate these flowers,” he says.

The portion of the research done by Houlihan and Stone, in Corkscrew, has been published in the journal Scientific Reports ; meanwhile, a study by Ward, Danaher, and others appears in Florida Entomologist .

Blame Darwin

There are many flower species that are pollinated by a single moth or butterfly.

Most famously, in 1862, Darwin examined a Madagascar orchid now named after him (Darwin’s orchid, or Angraecum sesquipedale ) that has a foot-long nectar tube. He was somewhat exasperated, as he hadn’t heard of any moth with a 12-inch tongue. “Good heavens,” he wrote, “what insect can suck it?” He hypothesized that there must be an insect in the area with just such a proboscis.

He was proven right 130 years later, when Morgan’s sphinx moth ( Xanthopan morganii ) was seen feeding from the orchid with its huge tongue. Houlihan’s studies of this moth, funded by the National Geographic Society, helped lead to his work on ghost orchids.

This example may have rubbed off on people’s thinking about the ghost orchid, says Larry Zettler , an orchid expert at Illinois College. “Everyone assumed the same kind of thing would happen with the ghost orchid, because you don’t have this massive nectar spur for no reason,” he says.

But having multiple pollinators, which apparently isn’t the case for Darwin’s orchid, will help to provide more opportunities for the ghost orchid to successfully reproduce.

“It’s good to have redundancy in ecosystems,” says Mike Owen, a biologist at Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve , where he and his colleagues have discovered 450 ghost orchids since 1993.

The collaborators' work collectively "updates Charles Darwin’s hypotheses about pollination ecology that had persisted and remained unquestioned for more than 150 years," Houlihan says. The Scientific Reports paper also calls for the flowers to be listed as federally endangered, due to their rarity; they are currently only considered endangered by the state of Florida.

Orchid thieves

Two months after Owen started his job, horticulturist John Laroche, along with two members of the Seminole tribe, were stopped while attempting to remove dozens of valuable air plants and orchids from the preserve. This haul including three ghost orchids—a story told, along with the giant-sphinx-only pollination theory, in Susan Orleans’ book The Orchid Thief and the film based on it, Adaptation .

Since that time, the reserve has introduced various measures to reduce poaching, such as installing camera traps. The same is true in the panther refuge, Danaher says, where more than 40 cameras have been installed to catch photos of wildlife and would-be poachers.

Poaching is not only illegal, but a terrible idea, because ghost orchids invariably die after being moved even slightly, Owen says. They require very specific micro-environments, which is why they thrive in Florida’s swamps, where flowing water slowly passes through, moderating temperatures and humidity. Fakahatchee Strand, a channel of low-lying, oft-flooded strand forest has the highest diversity of air plants and orchids in the continental U.S.

Development in South Florida has severely altered water flows that are so vital to the ecosystem and the orchids, but the importance of this untrammeled flow is being increasingly recognized.

The importance of old-growth

It’s also crucial to conserve remaining old-growth forests, which are home to ghosts and many other rare plants and animals, says Shawn Clem , research director for the sanctuary.

The super ghost itself shows people that the flower is not an abstract concept—but a very real plant that depends on a healthy flow of water to survive, she says. The new discovery about the ghosts’ pollinators “speaks to the need for conserving places like Corkscrew so that we can continue to understand the complex ecology of the region,” Clem adds.

Cypress trees once covered much or most of southwestern Florida, and Corkscrew offers a glimpse of how the land once appeared. Many trees reach to heights of around a hundred feet, and some of them are about 600 years old.

The super ghost is by far the highest situated of its species, and one of only few known to occur in cypress trees. But Houlihan and Stone think that, once, it was probably a common scenario—and these highly perched plants were likely incredibly important for seeding the understory below.

“This is just one reason why these old-growth forests are so important,” Stone says.

The plants produce hundreds of thousands of tiny seeds, which are distributed by air currents, and as you can imagine, it’s easier for seeds to drift downward from a high spot than to be lifted upward.

When the seeds land in a choice spot, they must also come into contact with the right kind of fungus. This is the case for all orchids, and many of them require an individual species. Zettler recently discovered that ghost orchids can only germinate in the presence of one species, in the genus Ceratobasidium .

That being said, Mike Kane , a horticulturist at the University of Florida, has figured out how to cultivate ghost orchids in the lab. That discovery has already helped to increase the supply of plants, some of which have been replanted to the wild, in places like the panther refuge.

There, and in the Fakahatchee and Big Cypress National Preserve, the ghost orchids are primarily found in pop ash trees, followed by pond apples. These trees are much shorter than cypresses, and many of the ghost orchids there are only a few feet off the ground.

When I finally saw my first such bloom, chest-high, with lip-like petals and a striking bright white color, I began to see how orchids hold such strange power over people. Ward is a good example.

After seeing his first flowering ghost in July 2012, in the Fakahatchee preserve, he returned for three days in a row to get the right shot—and has been photographing them ever since.

“The ghost orchid motivated me to explore these swamps,” Ward says, “and I hope its story can inspire others to protect the places where it lives.”

Read This Next

What these flashy feathers reveal about the secret lives of birds, like a moth to a flame a new study debunks an age-old theory, can woolly bear caterpillars really predict the weather, these mysterious moths fly at night in a straight line—but how.

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Environmentalists want to protect a rare 'ghost' orchid as an endangered species

Environmental groups have filed a lawsuit because they want the federal government to list a rare orchid, found mainly in Florida, as an endangered species.

AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:

Ghost orchids grow in just a few places in Florida and Cuba. There are only about 1,500 left in Florida, and they're under threat from habitat loss and poachers. Now they're also the subject of a federal lawsuit. Environmental groups are asking the federal government to immediately take steps to protect the ghost orchid as an endangered species. Here's NPR's Greg Allen.

GREG ALLEN, BYLINE: There are just a few places in Florida where a visitor can expect to see a ghost orchid. One of them is the Audubon Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. A particularly spectacular ghost orchid blooms there every summer just off a walkway. Sanctuary director Keith Laakkonen says it always attracts lots of visitors.

KEITH LAAKKONEN: Kind of hear this gasp, or you hear this pause when they see this really delicate, beautiful flower that's sort of way up there, you know? It's just really magical.

ALLEN: Orchids are charismatic as plants go, and ghost orchids have a mystique all their own. They cling to certain species of trees, don't have leaves, and are hardly visible for much of the year until the white flowers - just a few inches long - bloom. Because the plants are well camouflaged, when that happens, the flowers seem to float in midair, giving the ghost orchid its name. It's been featured in books and even a movie. Environmental groups have asked the federal government to give the orchid protections under the Endangered Species Act, but it's a slow process. Elise Bennett with the Center for Biological Diversity says the groups are suing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to speed up the process.

ELISE BENNETT: And we based that petition on overwhelming scientific evidence that shows precipitous declines for the ghost orchid, as well as ongoing and worsening threats in the future.

ALLEN: Among those threats are loss of habitat, destructive hurricanes and sea-level rise. But the No. 1 issue scientists and environmental groups are worried about is poaching. Ghost orchids rarely survive when taken from the wild. Poaching has already led to the extinction of at least two species of Florida orchids. Last year, law enforcement officers arrested a poacher who had taken 36 rare plants, including a ghost orchid. George Gann with the Institute for Regional Conservation says social media and the availability of information on the internet has made poaching a bigger threat than ever.

GEORGE GANN: Because of the data that are available online - that it's become much more popular and known about. And so poachers have much better information.

ALLEN: Gann says when he began researching and documenting ghost orchids and other species as a high school student in the 1970s, few people ventured into Florida's cypress swamps. In recent decades, he says, that's changed. More and more visitors are willing to wade through the swamps for a chance to see ghost orchids and other rare species. And that, he says, is a problem.

GANN: People are well-intentioned, but the amount of human traffic, of people walking and touching and trying to see the ghost orchid, is probably not sustainable.

ALLEN: Listing the ghost orchid as an endangered species would allow the federal government to designate the areas where it's found as critical habitat. That would open the way to additional protections, including possibly limiting access so the orchid isn't, as Gann says, loved to death.

Greg Allen, NPR News, Miami.

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The 27th annual joint orchid exhibit between the United States Botanic Garden (USBG) and Smithsonian Gardens is “Discover the World of Orchids,” on display in the USBG Conservatory from February 17 through April 30, 2023. The exhibit shares stories of the diversity of orchids and how technology advances their conservation.

One of the largest plant families in the world, orchid shapes, sizes, colors, and scents vary greatly! Throughout the Conservatory, thousands of orchid blooms showcase the USBG and Smithsonian Gardens’ extensive orchid collections. From growing orchids via tissue culture to tools that let us see the hidden parts of orchid lives, technological advancement has changed our relationship with orchids over time. Come explore stories of how technology contributes to how we conserve, grow, and understand orchids. 

In the Tropics house, hundreds of orchids will provide vibrant bursts of color at ground level and suspended in the air, and two 9-foot-tall tree sculptures covered with hundreds of epiphytic orchids will be a colorful photo opportunity. Visitors will find  Dendrobium  and  Paphiopedilum  orchids throughout the Plant Adaptations and Plant Conservation houses, including large, 8-foot-high curtains of orchids. A special display showcasing pollination and pollinators will feature showy slipper orchids and strikingly fragrant  Bulbophyllum  orchids.

The Garden will offer orchid-themed educational opportunities including online programs about orchid care and cultivation, lectures on orchid conservation, in-person experts answering visitors’ orchid questions, and more. 

The gift shop offered by Friends of the U.S. Botanic Garden and ReWild will feature offerings such as live orchid plants and other educational and botanical gift items and will be open daily in the Conservatory. Proceeds from the gift shop benefit USBG education programs. Learn more and plan a visit at  www.USBG.gov . 

Explore the exhibit via video tour

Explored Planet

Explored Planet

Stunning Photos Of The Rarest Flowers On Earth

Posted: November 20, 2023 | Last updated: November 21, 2023

<p>Flowers play an important role in keeping the earth in equilibrium. They can feed insects, and other animals, be used as natural medicine, and help with plant reproduction through pollination. Not only do flowers provide many incredible benefits, but they are also one of the earth's most beautiful sights.</p> <p> There are over 400,000 different species of flowers around the world, so it's unlikely to see them all within a lifetime. The rarest are often the ones with the most unique features.</p>

Flowers play an important role in keeping the earth in equilibrium. They can feed insects, and other animals, be used as natural medicine, and help with plant reproduction through pollination. Not only do flowers provide many incredible benefits, but they are also one of the earth's most beautiful sights.

There are over 400,000 different species of flowers around the world, so it's unlikely to see them all within a lifetime. The rarest are often the ones with the most unique features.

<p>The scientific name for the ghost orchid is dendrophylax lindenii and it's most commonly found in Cuba, Florida, and the Bahamas. There are so few of them on earth because they are nearly impossible to grow.</p> <p>Something unique about the ghost orchid is that it doesn't depend on photosynthesis to survive. The flower has no leaves and must attach to a host tree in order to grow. It's now on the endangered species list because most orchid growers have failed at cultivating it both in the wild and in sterile environments.</p>

The Ghost Orchid Is Now Endangered

The scientific name for the ghost orchid is dendrophylax lindenii and it's most commonly found in Cuba, Florida, and the Bahamas. There are so few of them on earth because they are nearly impossible to grow.

Something unique about the ghost orchid is that it doesn't depend on photosynthesis to survive. The flower has no leaves and must attach to a host tree in order to grow. It's now on the endangered species list because most orchid growers have failed at cultivating it both in the wild and in sterile environments.

<p>The curvature in parrot's beak, or clianthus, flowers are what give them their fitting name. Those who wish to seem them in person can find them on the Canary Islands. These grow best during the spring in cooler temperatures. If conditions constantly change it causes the flower to disappear.</p> <p>Unfortunately, the species started going away in 1884 and very few remain. Almost 90 percent of the population of parrot's beaks have been eliminated over the past 25 years.</p>

Parrot's Beak Almost Looks Like The Real Bird

The curvature in parrot's beak, or clianthus, flowers are what give them their fitting name. Those who wish to seem them in person can find them on the Canary Islands. These grow best during the spring in cooler temperatures. If conditions constantly change it causes the flower to disappear.

Unfortunately, the species started going away in 1884 and very few remain. Almost 90 percent of the population of parrot's beaks have been eliminated over the past 25 years.

<p>The night-blooming cereus is rarely seen throughout the world because it only blooms for one night a year. It also goes by the name of "queen of the night" and gives off a sweet vanilla fragrance.</p> <p>Some cultures also use night-blooming cereus in their cuisine. For example, it is a common ingredient found in a Cantonese slow-simmered soup. A few varieties of this flower produce fruits, which can be found in Australia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Hawaii.</p>

Night-Blooming Cereus Do Something Special Once A Year

The night-blooming cereus is rarely seen throughout the world because it only blooms for one night a year. It also goes by the name of "queen of the night" and gives off a sweet vanilla fragrance.

Some cultures also use night-blooming cereus in their cuisine. For example, it is a common ingredient found in a Cantonese slow-simmered soup. A few varieties of this flower produce fruits, which can be found in Australia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Hawaii.

<p>Chocolate cosmos, or cosmos astrosanguineus, are a rare species of flower native to Mexico. They gained popularity around 1861 after those researching the species found that the scent is very similar to chocolate. In order for it to grow properly, it requires fertile, well-drained soil and lots of sun.</p> <p>These deep red and brown flowers can grow between 40 and 60 centimeters tall and are usually found in pine or oak forests. There were rumors of its extinction, but botanist Aaron Rodriguez found plenty of them in various states across Mexico.</p>

Chocolate Cosmos Smell Just How You'd Imagine

Chocolate cosmos, or cosmos astrosanguineus, are a rare species of flower native to Mexico. They gained popularity around 1861 after those researching the species found that the scent is very similar to chocolate. In order for it to grow properly, it requires fertile, well-drained soil and lots of sun.

These deep red and brown flowers can grow between 40 and 60 centimeters tall and are usually found in pine or oak forests. There were rumors of its extinction, but botanist Aaron Rodriguez found plenty of them in various states across Mexico.

<p>The black bat flower is scientifically known as tacca chantrieri and is actually part of the yam family. They are most commonly found in the Southeast Asian countries of Thailand, Malaysia, and southern China.</p> <p>One of their most striking features are their whiskers, which can reach up to 28 inches in length. Most black bat flowers prefer shade, high humidity, and need a lot of water. All of their nutrients are stored in a bulb that's hidden beneath the soil.</p>

The Black Bat Flower Has Some Striking Physical Features

The black bat flower is scientifically known as tacca chantrieri and is actually part of the yam family. They are most commonly found in the Southeast Asian countries of Thailand, Malaysia, and southern China.

One of their most striking features are their whiskers, which can reach up to 28 inches in length. Most black bat flowers prefer shade, high humidity, and need a lot of water. All of their nutrients are stored in a bulb that's hidden beneath the soil.

<p>Jade vines are also known as strongylodon macroboyrys and are only found in tropical rainforests in the Philippines. It's closely related to the bean family, specifically kidney and runner beans. They were first discovered in 1841 by members of the United States Exploring Expedition.</p> <p>Bats regularly visit jade vines because they pollinate them. The bats will hang upside down on the jade vine and drink its nectar. They're also visited by some species of wasps and butterflies.</p>

Jade Vines Get Lots Of Visitors

Jade vines are also known as strongylodon macroboyrys and are only found in tropical rainforests in the Philippines. It's closely related to the bean family, specifically kidney and runner beans. They were first discovered in 1841 by members of the United States Exploring Expedition.

Bats regularly visit jade vines because they pollinate them. The bats will hang upside down on the jade vine and drink its nectar. They're also visited by some species of wasps and butterflies.

<p>No one had even seen a Juliet rose until it debuted at a famous flower show in 2006. The best way to tell a Juliet rose from another species of rose is by the hue of its petals. A Juliet rose has pale peach outer petals and deep peach inner petals.</p> <p>The creator of this flower spent 15 years and over three million dollars to make sure that it would be perfect. Ombré color patterns are also one of the biggest flower trends at the moment.</p>

The Juliet Rose Has Color-Changing Petals

No one had even seen a Juliet rose until it debuted at a famous flower show in 2006. The best way to tell a Juliet rose from another species of rose is by the hue of its petals. A Juliet rose has pale peach outer petals and deep peach inner petals.

The creator of this flower spent 15 years and over three million dollars to make sure that it would be perfect. Ombré color patterns are also one of the biggest flower trends at the moment.

<p>Lotus flowers are often referred to as water lilies because they are an aquatic species. Most of the lotus flowers around today originated from seeds that came from a northeastern China lakebed over 1,300 years ago.</p> <p>Most people who've looked at lotus flowers in person have mainly seen pink varieties because the white ones are extremely rare. Those looking for a white lotus should go to India, Sri Lanka, New Guinea, and eastern Australia. It's also the national flower of India.</p>

White Lotus Flowers Thrive In The Water

Lotus flowers are often referred to as water lilies because they are an aquatic species. Most of the lotus flowers around today originated from seeds that came from a northeastern China lakebed over 1,300 years ago.

Most people who've looked at lotus flowers in person have mainly seen pink varieties because the white ones are extremely rare. Those looking for a white lotus should go to India, Sri Lanka, New Guinea, and eastern Australia. It's also the national flower of India.

<p>Flame lilies, also known as gloriosa Superba, are the national flower of Zimbabwe. They are some of the most delicate flowers of all time, but they have a dark side. This flower contains colchicine and other alkaloids that make it dangerously toxic.</p> <p>It's poisonous if eaten and can cause skin irritation when touched by the stems or leaves. On the bright side, many areas in India and Africa use parts of the flower for medicine.</p>

Why You Should Be Careful Around A Flame Lily

Flame lilies, also known as gloriosa Superba, are the national flower of Zimbabwe. They are some of the most delicate flowers of all time, but they have a dark side. This flower contains colchicine and other alkaloids that make it dangerously toxic.

It's poisonous if eaten and can cause skin irritation when touched by the stems or leaves. On the bright side, many areas in India and Africa use parts of the flower for medicine.

<p>Flowers play an important role in keeping the earth in equilibrium. They can feed insects, and other animals, be used as natural medicine, and help with plant reproduction through pollination. Not only do flowers provide many incredible benefits, but they are also one of the earth's most beautiful sights.</p> <p> There are over 400,000 different species of flowers around the world, so it's unlikely to see them all within a lifetime. The rarest are often the ones with the most unique features.</p>

How The Stinking Corpse Lily Got Its Name

The stinking corpse lily, otherwise known as the rafflesia arnoldi, is the largest flower on the planet. It is most commonly found in Indonesia where it can grow up to three feet in diameter.

Unlike most flowers, the stinking corpse lily doesn't show any stems, roots, or leaves when it's in bloom. Its odor is extremely strong and is best compared to decaying flesh. The very first discovery was by a European botanist named Louis Auguste Deschamps in 1797.

<p>The Franklin tree flower, otherwise known as Franklinia, belongs to the tea plant family and is native to the Altamaha River in Georgia. The dark green leaves that surround the actual flower turn red in the autumn.</p> <p>It was named after Benjamin Franklin as it was first discovered in 1765. The Franklin tree flower doesn't exist in the wild anymore but has been replaced with existing plants that descended from the original seeds. It's likely the extinction was caused by a fungal disease throughout the cotton crops. </p>

The Franklin Tree Flower Has Been Around Since The Colonial Era

The Franklin tree flower, otherwise known as Franklinia, belongs to the tea plant family and is native to the Altamaha River in Georgia. The dark green leaves that surround the actual flower turn red in the autumn.

It was named after Benjamin Franklin as it was first discovered in 1765. The Franklin tree flower doesn't exist in the wild anymore but has been replaced with existing plants that descended from the original seeds. It's likely the extinction was caused by a fungal disease throughout the cotton crops.

<p>Those wanting to see middlemist red flowers, or camellias, in person can only find them in London or New Zealand. This species was brought from China to London in 1804 by botanist John Middlemist.</p> <p>It was thought to be extinct, but scientists were able to find rare sightings of it in 1999. Humans have used the middlemist red flowers to make tea and as a seasoning for cooking. The oil from the flower is also great for cleaning blades of cutting instruments.</p>

The Many Alternative Uses For Middlemist Red Flowers

Those wanting to see middlemist red flowers, or camellias, in person can only find them in London or New Zealand. This species was brought from China to London in 1804 by botanist John Middlemist.

It was thought to be extinct, but scientists were able to find rare sightings of it in 1999. Humans have used the middlemist red flowers to make tea and as a seasoning for cooking. The oil from the flower is also great for cleaning blades of cutting instruments.

<p>The corpse flower, also known as titan arum or amorphophallus titanum, is one of the largest flowers in the world. Similar to the stinking corpse lily, it is also found in Indonesian rainforests.</p> <p>It was first discovered by an Italian botanist named Odoardo Beccari in 1878. These massive flowers can reach up to 12 feet in length and they get their name because they smell similar to rotten meat or flesh. Its smell attracts insects who feed on nonliving animals to act as pollinators.</p>

You Probably Don't Want To Smell A Corpse Flower

The corpse flower, also known as titan arum or amorphophallus titanum, is one of the largest flowers in the world. Similar to the stinking corpse lily, it is also found in Indonesian rainforests.

It was first discovered by an Italian botanist named Odoardo Beccari in 1878. These massive flowers can reach up to 12 feet in length and they get their name because they smell similar to rotten meat or flesh. Its smell attracts insects who feed on nonliving animals to act as pollinators.

<p>Gibraltar campions, or silene tomentosas, can only be found in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. Their colors range from pink to pale violet and they were thought to be an extinct species.</p> <p>Luckily, they were rediscovered in 1994 when they were found growing in the Upper Rock Nature Reserve. After the discovery, some seeds were taken to the Millennium Seed Bank and Royal Botanic Garden in order for it to be preserved forever. Those who wish to see it in nature can find it along the rock outcrops of the Rock of Gibraltar.</p>

How The Gibraltar Campions Are Prevented From Extinction

Gibraltar campions, or silene tomentosas, can only be found in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. Their colors range from pink to pale violet and they were thought to be an extinct species.

Luckily, they were rediscovered in 1994 when they were found growing in the Upper Rock Nature Reserve. After the discovery, some seeds were taken to the Millennium Seed Bank and Royal Botanic Garden in order for it to be preserved forever. Those who wish to see it in nature can find it along the rock outcrops of the Rock of Gibraltar.

<p>The lady's slipper orchid got its name because the flower itself looks very similar to an actual woman's slipper. The purpose of the pouch is to trap insects, so they are forced to climb up through it to deposit pollen and fertilize the flower.</p> <p>This unique flower can be found in parts of Europe such as Spain and other areas around Asia. It has been protected by the United Kingdom's Wildlife and Countryside Act since 1981.</p>

Lady's Slipper Orchids Look Real Enough To Wear

The lady's slipper orchid got its name because the flower itself looks very similar to an actual woman's slipper. The purpose of the pouch is to trap insects, so they are forced to climb up through it to deposit pollen and fertilize the flower.

This unique flower can be found in parts of Europe such as Spain and other areas around Asia. It has been protected by the United Kingdom's Wildlife and Countryside Act since 1981.

<p>One of the most expensive orchids of all time is the Rothschild's slipper orchid. It is only found on the island of Borneo in Sabah, Malaysia, and takes up to 15 years to grow.</p> <p>The Rothschild's slipper orchid's boldest feature is the dark vertical stripes that curve around the petals. The green and red-spotted petals also attracts parasitic flies, so they can lay their eggs there. The most common time the flower is in full bloom is during the spring months of April and May.</p>

Why The Rothschild's Slipper Orchid Has So Many Colors

One of the most expensive orchids of all time is the Rothschild's slipper orchid. It is only found on the island of Borneo in Sabah, Malaysia, and takes up to 15 years to grow.

The Rothschild's slipper orchid's boldest feature is the dark vertical stripes that curve around the petals. The green and red-spotted petals also attracts parasitic flies, so they can lay their eggs there. The most common time the flower is in full bloom is during the spring months of April and May.

<p>The western underground orchid is native to western Australia and its name implies that it blooms and lives completely underground. Sadly, this flower is critically endangered and on its way to extinction. There are less than 50 of them alive today.</p> <p>The first western underground orchid was first discovered in 1928 when a gardener named Jack Trott found one in his wheatbelt. It created so much excitement that a wax model of the flower toured around the British Isles.</p>

Western Underground Orchids Are Almost Gone

The western underground orchid is native to western Australia and its name implies that it blooms and lives completely underground. Sadly, this flower is critically endangered and on its way to extinction. There are less than 50 of them alive today.

The first western underground orchid was first discovered in 1928 when a gardener named Jack Trott found one in his wheatbelt. It created so much excitement that a wax model of the flower toured around the British Isles.

<p>Even though there are about 75 different species of hydrangeas, they are still considered to be quite rare. Most are native to the Asian countries of Korea, China, and Japan, but some are also found in the United States.</p> <p>The word "hydrangea" is derived from the Greek language and means "water vessel." This refers to the shape of its seed capsules. Hydrangeas previously went by the name Hortensia, which comes from the wife of famous French clockmaker Jean-André Lepaute.</p>

Hydrangeas Have Greek And French Roots

Even though there are about 75 different species of hydrangeas, they are still considered to be quite rare. Most are native to the Asian countries of Korea, China, and Japan, but some are also found in the United States.

The word "hydrangea" is derived from the Greek language and means "water vessel." This refers to the shape of its seed capsules. Hydrangeas previously went by the name Hortensia, which comes from the wife of famous French clockmaker Jean-André Lepaute.

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what plants grow in russia

What Plants Grow In Russia? (Here’s What People Don’t Know)

There are two main groups of trees in Russia: coniferous evergreens and deciduous Birches. Larch and fir are common, as are birch and spruce. The most common trees in Russia are larch, fir and poplar, but there are also a number of other species of trees, such as sycamore, elm, oak, and pine. Russia has a long history of forest management.

In the 19th century, Russia was the world’s largest exporter of lumber. Today, the country is one of the largest producers of wood products, with an annual production of more than 1.5 billion cubic meters (1.3 billion tons). The country’s forests are home to a variety of plants and animals, many of which are native to Russia.

Many of these species are found nowhere else on Earth. For example, in the Russian Arctic, there is an abundance of walrus, narwhal, beluga whale, polar bear, walruses, reindeer, caribou, muskoxen, bison, beaver, moose, mink, otter, fox, lynx, marten and many more species.

Table of Contents

What vegetables can Russia grow?

Russian gardeners take pride in their vegetables, which include carrots, onions, cucumbers, garlic, beets, tomatoes, squash and radishes . Most gardens include a clump of parsley, and no garden is complete without the herb dill.

“”We have a lot of herbs in our garden, but we don’t use them all the time,” says Yevgeny, who has been growing vegetables in the garden since he was a child.

“We use some of them only for special occasions, like when we are going to a wedding or a funeral, or when the weather is bad and we need something to keep us warm.

What is the most common flower in Russia?

Tulips, lilies, carnations, roses and peonies are popular in russia. Most of these flowers are grown in people’s gardens and when an occasion occurs make a special trip to the garden to pick them. If you are looking for something more exotic, there are many varieties of wildflowers that can be found all over the country.

For example, in the city of Krasnoyarsk, you can find a variety of lily of the valley, which is native to Siberia. In the countryside, it is common to find wild flowers such as daisies, daffodils, and wild roses.

Do roses grow in Russia?

Maybe we should start applying that thinking to our flower purchases. Russian-cut roses are a common cut in Eastern Europe and Russia, but they were not grown in the U.S.A. or Europe. They were grown on the Russian steppes, where they have been cultivated for thousands of years. In fact, the name “Russian rose” comes from the word “russka,” which means “red rose.”

The Russian rose has a long history, dating back to the 13th century, when it was used as a symbol of royalty in Russia. Today, it is used in many countries around the world, including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and many other countries in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

What is Russia’s main crop?

The main crops grown in russia are wheat, barley, sunflower seed, oats, potatoes and rye . 21.9% of all arable land in the country was occupied by wheat in 2009, which was the largest share of arable land. Russia is the world’s largest producer and exporter of wheat and barley.

It is also the second largest wheat producer after the United States, and the third largest barley producer. Russia’s wheat production has been increasing steadily since the mid-1990s, reaching a record high of 3.8 million tonnes in 2008.

Can potatoes grow in Russia?

Russia is a huge producer of potatoes , and is typically the third largest potato producer in the world after China and India. Russia’s potato production has been declining since the mid-1990s, when the Soviet Union collapsed.

However, in recent years, the country has seen an increase in production due to a number of factors, including increased demand from the European Union and the United States, as well as the introduction of genetically modified (GM) potatoes in Russia.

According to the Russian Ministry of Agriculture, GM potatoes account for only 0.2% of the total potato crop, but they are responsible for a significant portion of Russia’s overall potato consumption. The GM potato, which is resistant to certain pests and diseases, was introduced to Russia in 1996. Since then, it has become the most widely used potato variety in Europe and North America.

It has also been adopted by many other countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela and Uruguay.

What plants are in Siberia?

The ‘taiga’ is the largest area of all and is dominated by firs, spruces, cedars, pines, and larches. The old Russian name for the steppes is treeless grassland.

These three regions are home to the world’s largest populations of bears, wolves, lynx, caribou, moose, elk, bison, musk oxen, beaver and muskrats, as well as many other species of wildlife.

They are also the only places in North America where polar bears can be found in large numbers.

What is Russia’s national food?

The national dish in russia is pelmeni . They are usually filled with meat and wrapped in a thin, pasta-like dough. They can be served alone, with butter and sour cream on top. One of the most popular dishes in the world is in Russia.

What is considered rude in Russia?

Hugs, backslapping, kisses on the cheeks, and other expansive gestures are common among friends or acquaintances and between members of the same sex. Russians stand close when talking. Putting your thumb through your index and middle fingers or making the “OK” sign are considered very friendly gestures. In Russia, kissing is considered a sign of affection.

Kissing is also seen as a way to show that you are in love with someone. It is common for people to kiss each other in public places, such as restaurants, bars, and shopping malls. In some cases, people kiss in front of other people in order to express their love for one another.

What is the most common tree in Russia?

The larch is the dominant tree species, accounting for over 42% of the area. The majority of forests located in the Asian part of Russia grow on linden trees . Larch is a deciduous tree that is native to Europe and Asia. It is also found in North America, Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.

Larch can grow to a height of up to 10 m (33 ft) and has a trunk diameter of about 1.5 m. The leaves are dark green to dark brown in color and have a long, narrow, pointed tip. They are used as a food source for many animals, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, insects, mollusks, crustaceans, snails, crayfish, worms and other invertebrates.

What is the most common animal in Russia?

The official national animal of Russia is the Eurasian brown bear . The brown bear is the national animal of both Croatia and Finland. The symbol possesses many different characteristics. People in Russia believe that it is a strong animal that can survive in harsh conditions.

In Russia, brown bears can be found in all regions of the country, including the Far East, Central Asia, Siberia, and the Arctic regions. They are also found on the island of Sakhalin, which is located in the Sea of Okhotsk.

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Moscow’s urban legends: Ghosts, mutant rats under the Metro

Construction of Fonvizinskaya metro station on the Lyublinsko-Dmitriyevskaya Line in Moscow

Construction of Fonvizinskaya metro station on the Lyublinsko-Dmitriyevskaya Line in Moscow

Among the world's most famous urban legends is about alligators allegedly living in New York City's sewer system. The Russians do not lag behind the Americans in terms of the popular imagination. Some see giant rats in the metro, while others talk about ghosts and the "mutagenic radiation" of the Ostankino television tower.

The mysteries of the metro

When it comes to rumours about the Moscow subway , truth is closely intertwined with fiction. Even officials do not deny that there are classified military and government lines under the capital – the so-called "Metro-2.”

That there are classified military and government lines under the capital – the so-called "Metro-2” – is not denied even by some officials. Photo: Construction of Fonvizinskaya metro station on the Lyublinsko-Dmitriyevskaya Line in Moscow. Source: Vitaliy Belousov/RIA Novosti

Enthusiasts have, however, been unsuccessfully trying to find more accurate information for years. Is there one line there or an entire system? Or is there an underground city for 15,000 people? Typical for an urban legend, there are a thousand versions of this story. They are united by an aura of secrecy and danger.

"It was really scary to hear the sound of tarpaulin boots near the alleged entrance to Metro-2," said Konstantin, one of Moscow’s community of “diggers,” or enthusiasts who explore subterranean bunkers, wells, tunnels and other facilities. "Is it still guarded by the KGB men, or something?"

Another Moscow resident claims her digger friend was allegedly shot at by special services while searching for Metro-2. The difficult-to-verify stories by the diggers about their adventures at the closed facility add to people's curiosity.

"My grandmother told me about Metro-2 in my childhood, and then about mutant rats," recalls Moscow resident Valeria. In the 1990s, tabloids publicized stories about giant rats living in the tunnels.

So could Splinter from " Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles " find company in the Moscow catacombs? "It's all science: Radiation from rocks must cause mutations in rats," says Pavel, also from Moscow. "But they live in technical rooms, so you can't see them."

Skeptics say that the crying comes from late-working employees of the Tunisian embassy: the commissar's house is now occupied by a diplomatic mission. Source: Lori/Legion-Media

On the surface

Not only are the underground bunkers of the Soviet elite shrouded in legend, but also fairly earthly structures, such as the home of Lavrenty Beria, the USSR People's Commissar for State Security and Stalin's right-hand man.

During interrogation in 1953, Beria confessed to abducting and raping dozens of women, but the authenticity of these papers is still being debated (Beria was removed by Khrushchev in a power struggle, and the documents could have been falsified after the execution of this dangerous rival).

But the image of the sadistic Beria was firmly imprinted on the popular mind, and his house in Moscow is surrounded by dark rumours. Allegedly, an invisible car rolls on Malaya Nikitskaya Ulitsa at midnight, with its old motor rumbling. Footsteps are heard, and Beria's ghost comes to his house for violent pleasures: curious pedestrians will soon even hear a woman crying from behind the walls.

Skeptics will say that the crying comes from late-working employees of the Tunisian embassy (the commissar's house is now occupied by a diplomatic mission), but this version is much more boring, even though probably the truth.

Napoleonic soldiers and a 500-year-old witch

It is not only the city centre where legends abound.

Many people believe that hundreds of soldiers from Napoleon’s army were buried in the hills of Peredelkino, a holiday village in the outskirts of Moscow, in 1812. Paranormal enthusiasts imbue the mounds with mystical qualities, believing that electronics go haywire and travellers disappear there.

The 500-year-old witch is believed to have predicted the high-profile murder of well-known TV journalist Vlad Listyev and a fire at Ostankino in 2000. Photo: A lightning over the Ostankino TV tower in Moscow. Source: Denis Murin/RIA Novosti

In reality, however, it is likely that there are no mass graves there.

"After the difficult war with Napoleon, peasants saw its echoes everywhere, so this is an old myth," researchers of the Museum of Moscow told RIR. "In the 19th century, archaeologists excavated Slavic mounds from the 10 th and 11 th centuries. But the inhabitants of the surrounding villages still considered them to be the graves of French soldiers."

The Ostankino neighbourhood, where Europe's highest TV tower is located, is also mythologized. It is allegedly haunted by the ghost of an old woman, who was murdered in the 16 th century. Now she walks around and predicts disasters.

The 500-year-old witch is believed to have predicted the high-profile murder of well-known TV journalist Vlad Listyev and a fire at Ostankino in 2000. Sometimes these stories are complemented by vivid details – for example, the furniture in Listyev's office was allegedly gnawed after his death by animals, mutated by the tower's radiation.

Then there are less bloody rumours: for example, one about a bulldozer embedded by builders in the TV centre's building by mistake. Yana Sidorova, the author of a study about the legends of Ostankino, says the TV centre's staff do not really believe in these sorts of stories, but are quite happy to spread them.

All rights reserved by Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

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IMAGES

  1. See the Rare Super Ghost Orchid at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

    ghost orchid tree

  2. The "Super" Ghost Orchid is Blooming!

    ghost orchid tree

  3. Florida's rare Ghost orchid (Dendrophylax lindenii). Photo by Mac Stone

    ghost orchid tree

  4. Rare ghost orchid found in Fla. tree

    ghost orchid tree

  5. Ghost Orchid l Rare and Unsual Orchid Variety

    ghost orchid tree

  6. ghost orchid flower (Dendrophylax Lindenii)

    ghost orchid tree

COMMENTS

  1. Dendrophylax lindenii

    Dendrophylax lindenii, the ghost orchid (a common name also used for Epipogium aphyllum) is a rare perennial epiphyte from the orchid family ( Orchidaceae ). It is native to Florida, the Bahamas, and Cuba. [2] [4] Other common names include palm polly and white frog orchid . Name

  2. What Is A Ghost Orchid

    Ghost orchid plants are also known as white frog orchids, thanks to the frog-like shape of the odd-looking ghost orchid flowers. Read on for more ghost orchid information. Where Do Ghost Orchids Grow? With the exception of a handful of people, nobody knows exactly where ghost orchid plants grow.

  3. 11 Enchanting Quirks of the Rare Ghost Orchid

    The ghost orchid is what's known as a "leafless" orchid, since its leaves have been reduced to scales and mature plants seem to lack foliage. It also has a reduced stem, which is often hard...

  4. Ghost Orchid

    The ghost orchid is leafless but has photosynthetic roots that allow it to produce sugars in the presence of sunlight. Its roots engage in a symbiotic relationship with a type of fungus that helps it gather nutrients in exchange for extra sugars. Without this fungus, the orchid would be unable to thrive.

  5. PDF How to Grow the Ghost Orchid

    How to Grow the Ghost Orchid: DENDROPHYLAX lindenii is a rare plant in the wild as well as in collections. Hopefully, increased interest and uncovering some of its cultural secrets will lead to more of these jewels of nature being grown. The number one requirement for maintaining a healthy ghost orchid is finding a suitable substrate.

  6. Ghost Orchid Growing & Care Guide

    The Ghost Orchid, scientifically known as Dendrophylax lindenii, is an enigmatic and mysterious flowering plant that has captured the fascination of botanists, nature enthusiasts, and orchid lovers alike. This rare and elusive orchid is native to the swamps and wetlands of Cuba, the Bahamas, and southern Florida in the United States.

  7. Discovery reveals secrets about how ghost orchids reproduce

    Ghost orchids are found in Florida and Cuba, and there are only about 2,000 ghost orchids in the state. As few as 10 percent of them flower each year during an unpredictable window in the summer. The plant has no leaves, consisting of green roots that cling to the bark of several tree species.

  8. Dendrophylax lindenii (Ghost Orchid, Palm Polly): Go Orchids

    (Lindl.) Benth. ex Rolfe Ghost Orchid, Palm Polly It was once believed that the night flying Giant Sphinx Moth, Cocytius antaeus, was the only insect in North America with a long enough proboscis to reach the nectar in this orchid's long spur and pollinate its flowers.

  9. Garden's Ghost Orchid Shines in Global Spotlight

    In the chilly pavilion, temperatures dropped to the upper-40 degrees Fahrenheit. On some nights, Hutchins tucked heat packs into the crook of the crabapple tree to try to keep the ghost orchid warm and its chances for a bloom alive. The budding ghost orchid drew huge crowds and media attention.

  10. Epipogium aphyllum

    Epipogium aphyllum, the ghost orchid, is a hardy mycoheterotrophic orchid lacking chlorophyll. [2] It is one of the rarest representatives of Orchidae family. [3] It is famous for its unpredictable appearance; in many localities it has been seen just once. [4] It is found in beech, oak, pine, and spruce forests on base-rich soils.

  11. Facts About The Ghost Orchid

    Ghost orchid is a perennial orchid that is an epiphyte in nature. Lindenii in its scientific name is actually a name of a famous botanist from Belgium. This orchid was identified by Jean Jules Linden in 1844 in Cuba.

  12. The Ghost Orchid: one of Britain's rarest plants

    Coincidentally, the two fragments have been reunited at the Museum after being apart for 84 years. In 1953, Elsie's son Rex Graham stumbled across 22 Ghost Orchids in a Buckinghamshire wood, the largest colony of ever seen in Britain (Graham 1953). This was the first time that Ghost Orchids had been seen for 20 years and it made the national press.

  13. Homestead Stories: The Ghost Orchid • Insteading

    There is actually a flower called a ghost orchid, and its tiny, spindly flower with no leaves, looks eerily like a ghost clinging to the bark of trees. Not found outside of Florida, the Bahamas, and Cuba, the ghost orchid ( Dendrophylax lindenii) is sadly, becoming an endangered species. In Florida, there are around 2,000 ghost orchids.

  14. Florida's rare ghost orchids are getting cut off from water

    The ghost orchid is an unusual, and unusually beautiful, flower found only in Cuba and the flooded forests of South Florida, where there are about 2,000 of the plants. ... Pond apple trees are ...

  15. 'Ghost' orchid that grows in the dark among new plant finds

    A ghost orchid that grows in complete darkness, an insect-trapping tobacco plant and an "exploding firework" flower are among the new species named by scientists in the last year. The species...

  16. Rare Florida Ghost Orchid flowers in UK for first time at Kew Gardens

    Dendrophylax means 'tree guardian', and the roots wrap themselves protectively around the trunk of their host tree. Ghost orchid populations in Florida were decimated when their host trees, majestic 1,000-year-old. Taxodium distichum (bald cypress), were logged in World War II to provide lumber for aircraft carrier decks in the Pacific.

  17. Ghost orchid may get protection under Endangered Species Act

    To keep the "ghost orchid" from being adored to death, federal wildlife officials said Tuesday the stealthy, rare, and beautiful flower may soon be added to the Endangered Species List.dy hard-to ...

  18. Ghost orchid pollination revealed for first time in incredible photos

    The first-ever photo showing a pawpaw sphinx moth ( Dolba hyloeus) probing and likely pollinating a ghost orchid bloom, in the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge. It was previously thought ...

  19. Environmentalists want to protect a rare 'ghost' orchid as an

    Environmental groups have filed a lawsuit because they want the federal government to list a rare orchid, found mainly in Florida, as an endangered species. Ghost orchids grow in just a few places ...

  20. Discover the World of Orchids

    February 17, 2023 - April 30, 2023. Location: Conservatory. 2023 orchid exhibit tour - Part 1. Watch on. This winter, explore the fabulous world of orchids at the U.S. Botanic Garden (USBG)! This year's joint orchid show celebrates the diversity of orchids found throughout the world. One of the largest plant families in the world, orchid ...

  21. Stunning Photos Of The Rarest Flowers On Earth

    Something unique about the ghost orchid is that it doesn't depend on photosynthesis to survive. The flower has no leaves and must attach to a host tree in order to grow. It's now on the endangered ...

  22. Orchid Awards honor preservation efforts in Moscow

    The Orchid Awards date back to 1998, when the nine-member Moscow Historic Preservation Commission honored the more than 170 people who donated a total of $160,000 so the city of Moscow could ...

  23. What Plants Grow In Russia? (Here's What People Don't Know)

    The main crops grown in russia are wheat, barley, sunflower seed, oats, potatoes and rye. 21.9% of all arable land in the country was occupied by wheat in 2009, which was the largest share of arable land. Russia is the world's largest producer and exporter of wheat and barley. It is also the second largest wheat producer after the United ...

  24. Moscow's urban legends: Ghosts, mutant rats under the Metro

    It is allegedly haunted by the ghost of an old woman, who was murdered in the 16 th century. Now she walks around and predicts disasters. The 500-year-old witch is believed to have predicted the ...