Flower Power

After leaving the Ft. Lauderdale airport we sped over to the Everglades National Park to begin our tropical journey. We were introduced to this unique ecosystem with a tour and video at the Everglades National Park center. Now aware of our surroundings, and armed with flora and fauna identification pamphlets, we ventured on the Anhinga Trail.

Still suffering from the dry season, the bushes surrounding the trail were spare of color. However, that doesn’t mean the trail was lifeless. What color was there coming from zipping dragonflies and vibrant yellow and orange crickets. Wilting purple wild petunias, Ruellia cilosa, persisted and lined our path. Further down the trail we became smothered by buttonbush, Cephalanthus occidentalis, something that seems to come out of a Dr. Seuss book. While mesmerizing, with all its intricate stems, I was on the search for another alien-esque flower.

Florida is home to an army of air plant, or epiphytes. Epiphytes land on trees, but instead of burrowing in roots to obtain water, tiny hairs on their leaves collect water from the moisture in humid air. This makes Florida the idealistic habitat, and in most cases, an epiphytes’ exclusive habitat. Some epiphytes resemble the top of a pineapple, but I had my eye our for orchid epiphytes. Luckily enough, in the corner of the boardwalk we found the Florida butterfly or worm vine orchids, Encyclia tampensis. This species of orchid is unthreatened but that cannot be said for all Everglades orchids.

The ghost orchid, Dendrophylax lindenii almost looks like a white frog. But its beauty, rarity, and subsequently human greedy has placed it on the Endangered list. Park rangers and biologists aren’t even allowed to devolve too much information on their location. On their own they reproduce extremely slowly, starting as thin green vines wrapped around trees. Over time they bloom into delicate white flowers, but this can take up to 20 years. Being so rare, poachers have found a market for this flower. Sadly, when the ghost orchid removed it does not survive for much longer. To prevent dwindling population, biologists like Mike Owen have created surveys of ghost orchis within the Everglades Park.

#operationorchid #peri-fightme  

https://www.nps.gov/ever/planyourvisit/anhinga-trail.htm

https://www.floridatrend.com/article/21045/ghost-story-protecting-the-rare-ghost-orchid