The Everglades, a place full of
life and diversity. After landing in Florida we went to the Everglades to see
different types of trees, plants, and animals. In this tour on the Everglades
National Park, the main point was to observe all the things that form this
ecosystem, the animals and vegetation. Every person of the group received a pamphlet
about different components of the everglades. I got the one that had different
types of flowers that grow in this ecosystem. This type of ecosystem provides a
warm and humid climate that makes it ideal for flowers to grow. I did not expect
to find such beautiful flowers with vivid and bright colors that a picture would
not do them justice!
Butterfly orchids,
a gift of nature and Florida! This flower had a unique fragrance and was very small,
making it hard to see and find them. In addition, I was only able to find one,
which was sad because it seems to be that it is a specie that needs protection
to grow and survive. The butterfly orchid that I found had green petals and the
central lip was white and purple. The butterfly orchid is called like that because
it looks like a butterfly, having big top petals that are like the top wings of
a butterfly, the bottom ones are a little smaller and the lip in the middle has
a solid color which will be compared to the body of the butterfly. Also, I think
they look like a butterfly in the way that when the breeze blows the petals
that seem to be very fragile and light weighted, imitated the movement of a
butterfly’s wings.
Encyclia
tampensis, an orchid that grows on top of mangroves, cypress, oaks, etc. The
flowering season of this orchid is from May until August but being easier to
find during its peak season which is in June. As I said before I only found
one, which is bad specially because I read an article that said how before
people use to go to this national park and just grab them and take them to make
a profit out of them, and many of those species never grew back. Hopefully that
will not be the case of this beautiful butterfly orchid.
Sources:
National Park Service: Orchids
Florida Native Orchids
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