Saturday, April 4, 2015

Recent Speaking Engagement - Long Island Orchid Society, NY

Many thanks go to the Long Island Orchid Society for hosting me on Thursday, April 9th.  Here is a link to their website:

http://longislandorchidsociety.org/

This was an historic occasion, as it was my first Florida native orchid themed presentation given outside of the state of Florida.  Previously, I have lectured many dozens of times at orchid societies, native plant societies, garden clubs, and symposiums, discussing our rare and unique orchid heritage.  Afterward, members of the society stated:

"
Thank you Prem. It was our pleasure to host you and I think you finally brought some warm weather to NY. You gave our group a very informative well organized talk packed with information and the hour just flew by. 

Highly recommended speaker!"

Florida is home to many rare and beautiful orchids, as well as some that are not as rare (but just as beautiful and interesting).  While the semi-tropical central and southern regions of the state boast the greatest orchid diversity in the entire US (with many of these species found nowhere else in the continental US), Florida also has species that range well outside the state.

This presentation was a combination of the best and most interesting orchids from two of my talks, representing both orchids shared across our borders with the rest of the US and orchids found only within Florida, including such luminaries as the Ghost Orchid (Dendrophylax lindenii).

It is a combination of scientific information, beautiful photographs, and anecdotes from many hundreds of hours in the field hunting, observing, and photographing our orchid wonders.

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

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.


Tuesday, January 13, 2015

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
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.

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

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!

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

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:











Wednesday, October 22, 2014

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.

Friday, October 17, 2014

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.
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