Look Ma! No Leaves!

This past weekend, a colleague and I were visiting an area in central-west Florida that is host to one of Florida's rarest endemic orchid species, only found within our state as far as anyone knows - Triphora craigheadii. It is likely that it grows elsewhere in tropical America, but its small size and secretive habit makes it very difficult to see. This same site hosts a number of plants of Copper Ladies Tresses (Mesadenus lucayanus), which were in bud, but not yet in flower, their slender coppery spikes blending in quite well with the fallen leaves. As we were poring over the site, looking to see if any T. craigheadii remained aboveground, we spotted some other coppery-colored spikes in full bloom. These, however, belonged to a completely different species, Corallorhiza wisteriana, also known as Wister's Coralroot or the Spring Coralroot. This plant is most notable in that it lives its entire life without ever growing a single leaf, relying instead on a special relationship to survive.

Most monotocotyledonous plants, such as corn and wheat, include a healthy dose of energy-rich starches in the seeds, which is what makes them useful to humans as a food source. As you may or may not be aware, orchid seeds are small and dust-like, containing only an embryo wrapped in a thin sheath without any nutrients added to the packet to get the seedling started on its new life. These seeds, in order to germinate, must fall in an area where specific fungi are growing...these fungi then begin to infect the seedling, and in the process begin to funnel nutrients through their mycelia into the plantlet. Thus, the orchid seedling begins its life in complete dependence upon the fungus. As the seedling grows, it typically develops its own leaves and begins the process of photosynthesis to produce some or most of its own nutrients. Its roots, however, will continue to host a population of these fungi, consuming bits of fungus at times, in a relationship termed myco-heterotrophy.

Coralroots are part of a unique group of orchids termed saprophytes, which continue to rely almost entirely on this fungal relationship for the necessary nutrients to live and grow. This particular species grows rather large underground root structures to host its fungi, which look a bit like a branching marine coral, hence the common name. The only clorophyll these plants ever produce is in very small quantities in the above-ground flowering stems, which come up briefly in the spring, to set seed and die back before a month has passed.

Their small flowers have a definite reptilian quality, looking like a number of tiny Cottonmouth snakes striking out at a hapless passerby. They are suffused typically with small purple polka-dots on all the floral parts, which looks particularly striking on the white lip. Here is a photo of one of the plants we saw that day. As we understand it, this was the first time this species has been observed growing at this particular site, probably because the main star here, T. craigheadii, blooms in June-July, and although Mesadenus do bloom here at this time, there is a site nearby where they are much more abundant...hence, I don't think anyone was watching this site at this time of year.


Enjoy!

---Prem

My favorite wild orchid...

I leave you this year with a photo of my favorite wild orchid...Cleistes bifaria. While it is the second wild orchid I ever saw in the wild, it has a very fond memory for me...when I was a teenager in Tallahassee, FL, we discovered a colony of these growing within walking distance of our house. Over the next 20 years, I watched this colony every year at the end of April, greeting their vanilla-scented flowers growing out from between the wiregrasses and fetterbushes where these made their home. You can read even more about this orchid on my website.


---Prem

Baby Orchid (Dendrophylax porrectus/Harrisella porrecta)

While out hiking Flagler trail (which inspired the poem below 'Among Giants'), I approached a tree a bit off the main trail in the hunt for Jingle Bell Orchids (Dendrophylax porrectus - aka Harrisella porrecta). As I scanned the branches, I noticed a familiar sight...a number of small green shield-like leaves--each only 1-2 mm long--with emerging roots. I had found a number of newly germinated seedlings. This is the only leaf that the plant will have, as it rapidly grows into one of Florida's "leafless" orchids, bearing only small, scale-like leaf sheaths shielding a very abbreviated stem. The roots and flower spikes emerge directly from this stem and perform all the photosynthesis for this plant. Curiously, I found the seedlings before I found the "mama" plant on a nearby twig.

Here is a photo of one of the seedlings:


And here is a photo of what a "mama plant" looks like at this time of year:


And here is a photo of a plant in bloom back in September of last year:


The flowers are tiny, only about 3 mm across. Interestingly enough, they are strongly fragrant at night like many other angraecoids.

You can read more about this species on its profile page on the Florida Native and Naturalized Orchids site:

>>> Click to View Dendrophylax porrectus profile page <<<

---Prem

Habenaria floribunda (aka Habenaria odontopetala)

On a recent hike in a wilderness area on the north side of Orlando in Seminole County, we discovered a number of Habenaria floribunda (which used to be called Habenaria odontopetala and are listed as such in Luer) orchids in all stages of life, from small seedlings to mature plants in full bloom. One plant in particular stood out from all the rest. While most were located in reasonably moist areas under mostly hardwood trees, this plant was in a semi-dry area underneath a cluster of pine trees. It also happens to be the tallest plant of this species that I have seen to date, standing around 30 inches tall with fifty flowers in all stages of development from near-ripened seed pods towards the bottom all the way to a single remaining bud at the top of the plant.

Here is a closeup of the flowers:

They look to me like little angry green goblins. Add a few spider webs and you have a truly "spooky" image, albeit a little late for Halloween. They are most likely moth pollinated, as they become intensely fragrant at night (in fact, I had discovered another population of these orchids in another Seminole County park toward evening time by just the scent alone). As to whether the scent is pleasant, it depends on who you ask. Paul Martin Brown, author of Wild Orchids of Florida, states that they have a distinctly unpleasant odor, which is in agreement with another nature photographer friend of mine. I, however, actually find the scent to be sweet and pleasant, if a little overpowering when you get close to the plant. Several of my children like the fragrance, while some others do not.  As I have informally polled individuals who have encountered this species, it ends up being about a 50/50 split between those who find the scent pleasant or unpleasant.

This is actually one of the more common orchids, inhabiting most every county in the Florida peninsula and growing in woodlands and swamps.

Enjoy!
---Prem

Among Giants: A Poem

This past weekend, I took a hike down Flagler Trail near the town of Geneva, FL. At the end of the trail close to the river, I came upon some majestic old Live Oak and Baldcypress trees, festooned with mosses. As far as orchids go, I did find a few Dendrophylax (Harrisella) porrectus plants growing in one tree in the area, although I'm sure if they're in one tree, they're in others as well. As I explored the area, getting lost among the trees, I could hear every-now-and-again the cry of Bald Eagles flying overhead.
I ventured close to the edge of the river and saw a historical marker, which said the following:

King Philip (Emaltha) and his son, Wildcat (Coacoochee), together with about 200 Seminoles, had a settlement here, which they felt threatened by the army camp at Lake Monroe in 1836-37. The resulting conflict at the camp on Feb 8, 1837, changed the name of Camp Monroe to Fort Mellon (Sanford). Later names for this Indian settlement were Cook's Ferry, Bridge End, Osceola, and now Osceola Fish Camp. The nearby shell mound was examined by anthropologists Daniel Britton in the 1850's, Jeffries Wyman in the 1860's, and Clarence B. Moore in the 1890's.
A similar plaque at the trailhead also noted the fact that after the attack on Fort Mellon, the Seminoles were driven from the area.

The events and sights of this day inspired the following poem:

Among Giants
by Prem Subrahmanyam

I walked
among the giants today.
Their hoary heads shaking, filled with memories of the ages.
Their long beards trailing through the air.
Their buttressed knees reaching down into the sands of times gone past.
I heard an eagle's cry,
cold and piercing
I heard the branches sigh
in a wind passing down from ages past to years yet uncounted.

I stood
upon the brink and saw the ruin of a nation
only the hills remember their names, etched in blades of snowy white
I wandered
to a time when another stood here as I do now.
He heard the eagle's cry,
wild and free.
He heard the branches sigh
in a wind passing down from ages past to years yet uncounted.

I wandered further
to a time when no one yet had marked this place
wild creatures strange and powerful
laid down in the dust to rise no more
only the hills remember their names, their bones encased in tombs of stone.
They heard the eagle's cry,
strong and new.
They heard the branches sigh
in a wind passing down from ages past to years yet uncounted.

I wandered even further
to a time when I am no more
a shadow that briefly darkened the hills and is remembered no longer.
On that day another stood here as I do now
Did he wander to my time and further back,
regarding those who stood here as he does now?
Did he hear the eagle's cry,
fierce and undaunted?
Did he hear the branches sigh
in a wind passing down from ages past to years yet uncounted?

Their buttressed knees reaching down into the sands of times gone past.
Their long beards trailing through the air.
Their hoary heads shaking, filled with memories of the ages.
Among the giants today
I walked.
© 2008, Prem Subrahmanyam, All rights reserved.

---Prem

Oval Ladies Tresses

A recent field trip to a known area in north-central Florida netted us this rare beauty. The Oval Ladies Tresses (Spiranthes ovalis) is very rarely seen, owing to its small stature and its general rarity.


After roughly an hour of hunting (during which time we saw several Spiranthes odorata in flower), we finally began to find some of these plants along with the natural hybrid/intergrade between these two, Spiranthes x ichteuckneensis.

Look for updates soon to my website with this species, along with the others we found that day.

---Prem

Dreaming in Black and White

Congratulations for finding this blog! Welcome to Florida's Native Orchids. I thought I'd get started by posting a "fine art" black and white treatment of a favorite orchid of mine. This is Pteroglossaspis pottsii, aka Potts' Orchid, found in one small area in Citrus County, FL. As I was editing one of the pictures I took in September of this year, the selection mask for the color range I was editing looked really cool as a standalone black and white treatment. So, I posted it as its own standalone image.

Here is the original:


and here is the image with a black and white treatment...I think it looks a bit like an old Daguerotype photo (sans the sepia tone):

This species was described in early 2007 as a distinct species as compared to Pteroglossaspis ecristata fma purpurea, which it somewhat resembles.

You can read more about this orchid here on my website:

Pteroglossaspis pottsii

Enjoy!

---Prem