Saturday, June 29, 2013

Snowfall in the Deep South, in Summertime!!

In general, the Snowy Orchid (Platanthera nivea) is a rarely seen summer-blooming orchid, earning a spot on the threatened plant list in Florida.  It is one of the few terrestrial bog/wetland orchids that bridges the gap between the spring bloomers and the late summer/fall bloomers.

Occasionally, however, it can become locally abundant, and when it does so, it can create spectacular displays in wet meadows and on wet roadsides.  I have seen two areas, one in the Florida panhandle and one in southeastern Georgia where this occurs, and the display is breathtaking!


Here is an individual flower head:


And here is a video taken in the same general area as the first picture in this post:


The flowers are nicely fragrant of citrus blossoms and hold small amounts of nectar in the tips of their spurs to reward their pollinators (likely small butterflies).

 

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Feature on OrchidsMadeEasy.com

I was recently interviewed for a guest feature on the Orchids Made Easy blog.  You can read the article here:

http://www.orchidsmadeeasy.com/florida-native-orchids/

Thank you to Ryan and Jenny for the honor of inclusion on your blog!

 
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