Previous Appearance - Florida Wildflower and Garden Festival, DeLand, FL

I spoke recently on Florida's native orchids at the Florida Wildflower and Garden Festival on West Indiana Avenue in historic downtown DeLand, Florida.  Thank you to everyone who dropped by our booth and attended the talk, showing your support for our efforts in educating the public about Florida's native orchids.

My talk was at 2PM in the Athens Theatre in the heart of the festival.

Our YouTube Channel is Open for Your Viewing Pleasure

While I primarily shoot still photographs while out in the field, I have been dabbling with shooting short videos of various species of orchids and their habitats and cobbling them together into something that is hopefully interesting and entertaining.  These are all assembled into our YouTube channel, which you can visit by clicking the link below:

Click to Visit Our YouTube Channel

 I have also created a widget in the top right corner of this blog linking to the most recent videos in the channel.

New for 2015 - the Florida Endangered Orchid Calendar

Only $19.99 Plus Shipping!

I have released a new wall calendar for 2015 featuring some of Florida's rarest orchids.  The Florida's Endangered Orchids calendar features 12 stunning photographs of our rarest and most beautiful and intriguing orchids.  These will make great Christmas (or other) presents for your friends, loved ones, and co-workers.

Here is the cover image from this handsome calendar:

and here are a few featured images from this calendar:

 

To order your own calendar, follow the link below:

Florida's Endangered Orchids Calendar.

Ribbon/Thick-root Orchid (Campylocentrum pachyrrhizum) Profile/Photo Gallery Published

This is a major milestone!  It is the 50th native orchid profile/photo gallery published to the Florida Native and Naturalized Orchids website.  This is one of the rarer orchids in our state, Campylocentrum pachyrrhizum, known alternately as the Ribbon Orchid or the Thick-root Orchid.  It is distantly related to the Ghost Orchid (Dendrophylax lindenii) and is a bit more common, but still exceedlingly rare.  To make matters worse for this species, individual plants are sometimes poached because structurally, they resemble Ghost Orchids somewhat.  Imagine the disappointment for said poacher when, instead of seeing a large, white flower (if the plant even lives to flowering), he/she sees a tiny, inconspicuous flower.

Plants of this species can be easily distinguished from Ghost Orchids even when out of flower.  Read up on them on the new gallery/profile to educate yourself on this species.  Here is the profile entry:

http://www.flnativeorchids.com/natives_gallery/campylocentrum_pachyrrhizum.htm

And here is one of the images from the profile:

Enjoy!

Carter's Orchid (Basiphyllaea corallicola) Profile Posted

I have posted a new profile on the Florida Native Orchid site for Carter's Orchid (Basiphyllaea corallicola). It is an exceedingly rare orchid, found only on a very few occasions in the ever shrinking (due to rampant overdevelopment) pine rockland ecosystem.

Here is the link to the profile:

http://flnativeorchids.com/natives_gallery/basiphyllaea_corallicola.htm

and here is one of the images from the new page:

Galeandra bicarinata Profile Posted

I have posted a profile for the Two-keeled Galeandra (G. bicarinata) on the Florida Native Orchids Page:

http://flnativeorchids.com/natives_gallery/galeandra_bicarinata.htm

This orchid is much rarer than the Ghost Orchid, with only a few dozen individuals found scattered throughout several hardwood hammocks in extreme southern Florida.

Spooky Orchids for Halloweed - Updated.

Yes, Halloweed, not Halloween...where we celebrate hallowed weeds!

Here are a few spooky-looking or spooky-named fall-blooming orchids from the state of Florida:

Habenaria odontopetala, or the toothpetal false rein orchid, is in flower now. The small, 1/2-inch-wide flowers look like small goblins. The spiderwebs add to the spooky effect. Did I mention that these flowers are only fragrant at night? Haunting Florida swamps and forests with their ghostly fragrance.

Another fall-blooming orchid, the Wild Coco (Eulophia alta) blooms in September in central Florida, spreading into December in south Florida. The flowers have somewhat of a resemblance to erect-eared, fanged dog heads. With multiple "heads" per spike (which can reach up to five feet tall), these are a worthy botanical analogue of Cerberus, the multi-headed dog guarding the underworld in Greco-Roman mythology.

Usually, this orchid blooms in summertime, although occasional fall-blooming plants are found. Still, with the common name of Ghost Orchid, Dendrophylax lindenii is a perfect Halloween orchid. It is also keenly night fragrant, pollinated by the Giant Sphinx Moth that also inhabits Florida's haunted southern swamps.

Finally, Ponthieva racemosa is known as the Shadow Witch, owing to its habit of growing in deep, shadowy wooded areas.  Blooming in October in northern Florida, it blooms in November in central Florida and December in the far southern end.  This lovely little orchid is known for casting deep spells of wonder on those who find her in her secretive lair.

Click the "View the Gallery" graphic at the top of this blog page to see many more photos of Florida's amazing orchids.

Completed Speaking Engagement - Port St. Lucie Orchid Society

Thank you so much, Port St. Lucie Orchid Society, for having me speak at your meeting.  You were a very friendly and enthusiastic crowd.