Florida Native Plant Society Blog

 Figure 1. Ghost orchid flower. Picture Credit – M.Fournier HBI. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ghost_Orchid.jpg    This post is one of a series from Botany professor Nisse Goldberg's students at Jacksonville University. Student authors: Danielle D’Amato, Shanda Larson, Rachel FrankCommon Name: American Ghost Orchid Scientific Name: Dendrophylax lindenii Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Liliopsida Order: Orchidales Family: Orchidaceae Genus: Dendrophylax Species: Dendrophylax lindenii Orchids are the largest family of flowering plants. With over 30,000 species of orchids found in just about every part of the planet. While most plants are rooted in the soil, orchids can grow “in the air” with their aerial roots attached to rocks and tree trunks. Found almost exclusively in southern Florida, Haitian, and Cuban swamps, these orchids grow best in high humidity and still air. Dendrophylax lindenii or American ghost orchid is one of the most fam...

Thanks to all of you who took me up on the invitation to respond by email to the conversation about ghost orchids on 4/24. I am going to publish an excerpt of some the responses here in the next couple days. Still some arguments still being developed!  If you have an opinion, let's hear it!! fnps.online@gmail.com Happy gardening till then. SPD

Controversy flared up last week down Palm Beach County way, when a local FNPS (Florida Native Plant Society )  chapter auctioned off one the rare ghost orchids, Dendrophylax lindenii. You may remember this one from the movie, adapted from Susan Orleans' book, and with the same title, The Orchid Thief. Here's what happened. An irate email was sent to the Webmaster, expressing the opinion that the chapter was at fault both for selling this endangered plant, and for possibly encouraging poaching. This is a valid concern, of course. No one wants more people out in the Fakahatchee Strand or Corkscrew Swamp, the only places where the orchid exists now, trying to bring home a specimen for their yard.                                                 ...