A Giant of Liliputian Proportions - Pteroglossaspis ecristata

Pteroglossaspis ecristata is a plant of contradictions. While once fairly common in Florida, its population has declined in recent years, becoming much harder to find in flower. Its paper-thin leaves are reinforced with stiff veins, making them resemble a palmetto seedling. Its sometimes exceptionally tall flowering stems are capped with small flowers, each only 1 to 1.5 cm tall.


My son, Josh, admiring a tall flowering plant.

While inflorescences up to 5.5 feet (1.7 meters) are not unheard of, a more typical flowering stem height is 2 to 3 feet (0.7 to 0.9 meters) tall.



The flowers themselves are not extraordinarily attractive...perhaps more bizarre than anything else. Luer, in an illustration in his book, likens them to a number of turbaned Sikhs peering around the stem. Paul Martin Brown describes them as "green and black orchids on a stick". It is often hard to capture more than one or two flowers face-on in a photograph owing to how the flowers twist around the stem.



You can read more about this species here:

>> Pteroglossaspis ecristata information page <<

Trail Tales (or Stuff I've Seen While Hunting For Orchids), Part 5

While out photographing orchids in the Florida panhandle, we found this lovely specimen growing in a roadside bog. This is the white-topped pitcher plant (Sarracenia leucophylla).



Pitcher plants are a type of carnivorous plant, trapping insects in a pool of liquid inside the hollowed-out leaves. The inside of the pitcher is waxy and covered with downward-pointing hairs that make it easy for an insect to fall in but difficult to get out. The pool of liquid contains digestive fluids that break down the insects into basic nutrients that the plants can absorb...nutrients that are generally lacking in the highly acidic bog soil where these plants grow.

The Importance of Being Earnest Observant

When I was a teenager, my mom and I would often take drives out into the Apalachicola National Forest or the Lake Talquin State Forest nearby just to see what could be seen. As we ran across interesting plants that we had not seen before, we would consult our guidebooks, as well as the resident botanist and herbarium director at Florida State University, Dr. Loran Anderson (now retired). We had established a good rapport with him and I especially would report any new orchid finds. I was able to help him obtain a few orchid specimens for his herbarium that he did not have, as well as establish new records for several species not seen before in Leon County - Zeuxine strateumatica, Platanthera flava, and Platanthera ciliaris.

I also remember running across a population of Spiranthes that resembled S. praecox, but the habit and blooming time of these was off (about a month too early and in woodlands, as opposed to open, wet areas). I had brought this to Dr. Anderson's attention on occasion, but never really pursued the matter further. About a decade later, Paul Martin Brown described this species formally as Spiranthes sylvatica, or the Woodland Ladies' Tresses.

Drat.

Fast forward to a year or two ago. My son, Josh, and I were photographing Malaxis spicata in an area near Ocala, FL. While out there, Josh brought to my attention a plant that had variegated leaves. I remember reading in Paul Martin Brown's Wild Orchids of Florida about a variegated Malaxis, so I chalked it up to another find of this form. I did photograph it, as it appeared interesting. When I consulted the book back at home, I realized that he had described a variegated form of Malaxis unifolia, not M. spicata. In other words, this was a form that had not yet been formally introduced to science! Thankfully, I was able to correlate the gps trail that our Garmin unit had recorded with the time stamp of the photograph, so we had an approximate locality for the plant. Upon our return, after about an hour of searching for it, we relocated the plant, put a colored flag on it, and covered it with a wire hanging basket to protect it from deer and hog browse.

We brought this plant to Paul's attention, and he formally described the variegated form of this species in the North American Native Orchid Journal in the August 2009 edition as Malaxis spicata forma variegata P.M. Brown, P. & J. Subrahmanyam forma nov. . You can view this journal on-line at the following link:

http://culturesheet.org/_media/users:nanoj:nanoj_15_1_.pdf

And here is the photograph of this newly described form that we saw that day:



So, while I had missed out on the opportunity to bring an entirely new species to science, which would be, admittedly, much cooler, I did have the opportunity to bring a newly described form of an existing species to science. And, as I continue to head out into the field to photograph orchid species, who knows what might still be out there to discover?

As a footnote, a colleague of mine was out photographing the variegated Malaxis and discovered a plant nearby completely lacking the orange color in the flowers...in other words, an albescent form of the species. This form was also described in the same article and named after his daughter Morgan as Malaxis spicata forma morganiae P. M. Brown.

A Truly Albino Grass Pink.

In this case, albino would mean a complete lack of the typical pink color. The orange-yellow in the psuedo-pollen bristles persists.



This is only the second time in my life that I've seen a grass pink this color. Below is a typical color form:



You can read more about this species on its profile page:
Grass Pink (Calopogon tuberosus)

Website Updates - a Septet of New Orchid Pages

I have updated the website with seven new orchid pages. In addition to the updates, I have added functionality to the gallery page to display a '**NEW**' beneath any orchid whose page has been added within the last two weeks. But, just so you don't have to go hunting for the '**NEW**' tags, here are the seven species added to the website (bringing the grand total to 36 species with 210 photos between them all):

Eulophia alta

Epidendrum amphistomum

Ionopsis utricularoides

Malaxis spicata

Malaxis unifolia

Spiranthes odorata

Tolumnia bahamensis

Planting Scrub Lupines (Lupinus westianus var. aridorum)

On December 8, 2010, three of my sons (Timothy, Isaac, and Kenny) and I joined a volunteer group, along with a researcher from Bok Tower gardens, planting scrub lupine (Lupinus westianus var. aridorum) at Tibet Butler Nature Preserve in the Orlando, FL area. This lupine is endemic to central Florida, and is only known from a few isolated populations, so it is considered critically endangered. It is a biennial or short-lived perennial that bears racemes of pretty, purple flowers. Lupines are not orchids, but are members of the pea family--although they do share the trait of bilateral symmetry with the orchids.

Juliet Rynear, from Bok Tower Gardens, has been growing a number of seedlings of this plant in the hope of expanding its population -- volunteer groups have planted these out in several areas in central Florida, re-establishing populations where this plant has been known to grow historically, as well as creating new ones.

We met on a rather cool, sunny morning with a group of about 10 others and got straight to work, helping to plant 300-some-odd plants during the course of the morning. Here are some photos taken that day:


Plants in their peat pots.

Each has a blue flag and an "identity coin" with the individual's ID number...researchers have kept careful data on each seed as it was planted...where it came from, when it was planted, etc. so that the plants that successfully grow to maturity can be tracked.


Kenny planting a seedling.


Isaac planting a seedling.


Tim planting a seedling.


Seedling in its new home.


A more mature plant, planted a year or two ago. It should bloom in the next year.

You can learn more about this species via the following links:

http://www.fnai.org/FieldGuide/pdf/Lupinus_aridorum.pdf

http://hawthornhillwildflowers.blogspot.com/2010/01/scrub-lupine-lupinus-aridorum.html

http://www.centerforplantconservation.org/collection/cpc_viewprofile.asp?CPCNum=2693

http://www.florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/Plant.aspx?id=1243

We left a bit before all the seedlings were planted out in the hope of finding some Spiranthes longilabris still in flower in a wildlife management area several hours south. Alas, we found by sheer chance a few plants already bloomed out and in fruit, so better luck next year.

I will be back to photograph the lupines when it is their time to bloom this year.

Two Native Orchid Related Articles

A couple of articles/websites came up on my Google news alerts regarding native orchids. I thought it might be nice to share:

• Conservation of Epiphytic Orchids of South Florida


• Orchids' Health Speaks Volumes

Enjoy!

---Prem

A Monumental Event

Well, at least for me, it is. All the gallery pages on the Florida Native Orchids Website have now been converted over to the new database-driven gallery format. This will allow, over the upcoming months, to enhance the gallery and search functionality of the site. The latest pages to be updated are the following:


Bearded Grass Pink (Calopogon barbatus)

Pale Grass Pink (Calopogon pallidus)

Large Whorled Pogonia (Isotria verticillata)

Cranefly Orchid (Tipularia discolor)

Spring Coralroot (Corallorhiza wisteriana)

Scarlet Ladies' Tresses

Spring Ladies' Tresses (Spiranthes vernalis)

Grass-leaved Ladies' Tresses (Spiranthes praecox)

Trail Tales (or Stuff I've Seen While Hunting For Orchids), Part 4

On the day when a colleague, Rich Leighton, and I went to photograph the White Fringed Orchid, he mentioned that there was a scenic waterfall at a local park not too far away, Falling Creek Falls Park, north of Lake City. Since we had a few hours of sunlight left, I was game to check it out...waterfalls are as rare as hen's teeth in Florida.

It's a very nice, small park maintained by the Suwannee Water Management District. Falling Creek is itself a small tributary of the Suwannee River. Here is a page with info on the park:

>>> Falling Creek Falls Park <<<

The waterfall itself plunges over a limestone ledge 10 feet or so into the pool below. The strength of the waterfall is intimately tied to water levels...during the dry season, it's barely a trickle, while during the wet season, you can hear the falls a good bit before you see them.

Click the picture below for an expanded view:
This is a typical 'blackwater creek', colored by tannic acid released by decaying vegetation along the creek's route. Tannic acid is the same ingredient that gives a nice glass of southern sweetened iced tea its brownish color. This also gives the falls a distinctively tan-brown color.

Tipularia discolor, or 'After the Flowers of Summer Are Gone'

Tipularia discolor, known commonly as the Cranefly Orchid, is vegetatively active during two different seasons of the year in the hardwood forests that it calls home. While most terrestrial orchids (of which T. discolor is one) hibernate during the winter and grow and flower during the warmer months of the year, this summer-flowering orchid produces its frost-and-freeze-resistant leaves during the fall, winter, and early spring, in habitats ranging from central Florida into southern Ohio. In fact, it is during the leafing stage of this orchid that it is most easily found, their solitary green leaves, deep purple underneath and often spotted with purple on top, are one of the few things green at all during the winter months. One will often encounter fairly sizable clumps of plants during this time of year.



In spring, the leaves fade as the trees overhead begin to leaf out again and diminish the light reaching the forest floor. If the plant has stored enough nutrients in its chain of underground corms, it may decide to flower in summer (typically around July-August). The flowering stems blend very well with their surrounding environment, so they are quite difficult to spot, even when in full flower. Curiously, only about ten percent of the plants seen in winter time will flower in the summer. They obviously seem to have very fertile seed, considering the size of the colonies typically seen in winter.



Their flowers are curiously asymmetrical, with the dorsal sepal and lip skewed to one side of the central axis, and one of the lateral petals typically twisted down to overlap its corresponding lateral sepal. The spur extending from the back of the lip is filled with nectar. Research done on the pollinators (W. P. Stoutamire 1978) of this orchid indicates that these flowers are pollinated by noctuid moths. I have observed a faint, sweet night fragrance in the flowers, which is consistent with this research. To find out some more interesting facts about this flower's pollination scheme, visit the link below for my Tipularia discolor information page.



You can visit the Tipularia discolor page on the Florida Native Orchids site by clicking the following link:

>>> Tipularia discolor info page <<<

2011 Florida Wild Orchid Calendars Are Here!!!!

I am pleased to announce that we now have the 2011 editions of the Florida Wild Orchid calendars available for purchase. These three calendars, assembled through Cafe Press, feature photographs of wild Florida orchids taken in locations throughout the state of Florida, along with educational information on each orchid species featured. Please click the image above to see more about these handsome calendars.

Now Playing In a Swamp Near You and Bewitched, Part III

Now to bring the topic back to orchids (since, after all, this is an orchid-related blog). Late fall in north and central Florida usually does not have much to offer orchid-wise...most terrestrials are wrapping up for the year, storing whatever they can in their underground portions prior to the first below-freezing night, which usually does the above-ground parts in. Starting in October in northern Florida, and wrapping up in December in southern Florida, two common woodland species come into their own during this sparse time--Spiranthes odorata and Ponthieva racemosa, known by their common names as Fragrant Ladies' Tresses and the Shadow Witch Orchid. You can see some earlier posts of Shadow Witch flowers and plants to this blog under the titles Bewitched, Part I and Bewitched, Part II. Both are members of the subfamily Spiranthoideae and tribe Cranichideae, but the former is classified in subtribe Spiranthinae and the latter in subtribe Cranichidinae. Both have evergreen basal rosettes of leaves and grow in rather swampy areas and both reproduce vegetatively via runners, as well as sexually via flowers and seeds. Because of their vegetative reproductive habit, both can tend to form extensive colonies over time, although I have observed S. odorata as being a bit more aggressive in colony forming than P. racemosa Both species are pleasantly fragrant, with P. racemosa smelling faintly of citrus while S. odorata smells most strongly of vanilla scented baby powder.

Three of my children and I visited a well-known site for these species...this same general area is home to Malaxis spicata, Platythelys querceticola, Listera australis, and Corallorhiza wisteriana as well. I would not be surprised if Epidendrum magnoliae were found growing in the trees overhead. Here are some photographs taken of these two species:

Spiranthes odorata - three blooming plants

Spiranthes odorata - single inflorescence

Spiranthes odorata - flower closeup

Ponthieva racemosa - flower spike

Ponthieva racemosa - top-down view

Ponthieva racemosa - top-down view

Ponthieva racemosa - Semi top-down view

Ponthieva racemosa - flower closeup

Trail Tales (or Stuff I've Seen While Hunting For Orchids), Part 3

On the day we went to see Pteroglossaspis pottsii in flower, we saw a Butterfly Pea (Centrosema virginianum) in flower:



This flower one of many 'orchid imposters' we have in the state of Florida, with lovely, two-inch-long (5 cm long), purple flowers that, to an untrained eye, may appear to be an orchid. This flower, in fact, belongs to a member of the pea family, which is about as far away from being an orchid as you can get.

Get Your Ghost On...

'Tis the season for things of a ghoulish nature. Celebrate it by showing off your love for Florida's orchids...



Lurking deep in the swamps of Florida, the ghost orchid (Dendrophylax lindenii) haunts largely inaccessible places with its large, white and pale green flowers. To add to its mystique, it is fragrant only in the dark hours of the night to lure its pollinators (night-flying moths) to its narrow phial of nectar.

These jet-black t-shirts capture the essence of Florida's ghost orchid and help in a small fashion with the costs of running the web-site, trips into the field (requiring fuel for both vehicles and hikers), etc. Own your own ghost orchid t-shirt by following the link below:

>>> The Florida Ghost Orchid T-shirt Store <<<

Trail Tales (or Stuff I've Seen While Hunting For Orchids), Part 2

A week or two later, one of my older daughters, Sarah, and I went back to the same preserve from part number 1 to try to photograph one of the two native species of orchids found here (Habenaria odontopetala and Epidendrum magnoliae). I was recounting the tale from the last time, instructing her in no uncertain terms that she should keep an eye on the ground carefully to make sure she didn't step on a cottonmouth. As I was pontificating, Sarah was trying to quietly get my attention, "Dad....Dad....Dad". "What?" I say. "Look ahead up the trail". Right there, about 100 feet away, was a young black bear. I managed to get out my camera and fire off a shot before he/she noticed us and scampered off quickly into the woods (the Floridian population of Ursus americanus is known for its relative shyness). This was only the second time in my life I've seen a black bear...once, I saw a young bear scampering away in the Tallahassee area as I was walking in the woods.

Here is the photo from the day:

Trail Tales (or Stuff I've Seen While Hunting For Orchids), Part 1

One fine morning, while hiking back out of a local wildlife sanctuary, I was about to step on what I thought was a stick, when, suddenly, my eyes detected a distinctively non-stick-like pattern. It turned out to be a youngish cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus piscivorus) sunning itself in the trail. Thankfully, these snakes are not nearly as aggressive as legend says they are (it is my understanding that they get this mistaken reputation from highly aggressive, non-poisonous water snakes). A quick flick with my walking stick near the tail, and this fellow(ette) decided the swamp on the other side of the trail was more to his/her liking.


As of yet, I've not been bitten by a venomous snake...I'm praying that it stays that way.

Ghost Orchid Painting - Experimenting with Watercolor Pencils

I was inspired to try something by a post several years ago on the previous instantiation of Misti Little's blog (Oceanic Wilderness in my blogroll). In the post, she was interviewing an artist friend who used watercolor pastels to do painting and was describing how they gave her the precision of pastel drawing with the final result looking like a watercolor after water was applied to the paper. This intrigued me immensely, so I filed this away in my brain. Fast-forward to about two weeks ago, where I was picking up some art supplies for my kids--I spied a box of watercolor pencils.

I figured I'd give them a whirl. I immediately fixed upon Miguel Urquia's Ghost Orchid as my subject of interest. Here's the photo below:



And here's the result. I feel like it's pretty good for my first effort, but I definitely have some room for improvement:



Here are a couple of detail shots:





Let me know what you think in the comments, but please remember, this is my first attempt at this medium.

---Prem

September 15, 2010: Corkscrew Swamp Ghost Orchid Blooms again

I just received a tweet from the Corkscrew Swamp twitter feed indicating that there are four flowers open now on the 'Super Ghost Orchid' at Corkscrew Swamp. This will be the fourth flush of blooms this venerable orchid has had this year. To learn more about Corkscrew Swamp, click the page link below:

Corkscrew Swamp Home Page

For those of you unfamiliar with this particular orchid, the large ghost orchid at Corkscrew Swamp (often dubbed the 'Super Ghost') was discovered in 2007 at Corkscrew Swamp near Naples, Florida and is the only ghost orchid whose location is made known to the general public. I have blogged about this plant previously. Follow the link below to see these entries:

Corkscrew Ghost Orchid at The Florida Native Orchid Blog

This will likely be the last blooming for this orchid for this year (in fact, it's very hard to find any ghost orchids in bloom this late in the year), so if you can make the trip down there, you won't be disappointed.