"An endangered ghost orchid that brought international attention to National Audubon's Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is in bloom for the second time this summer. ... the orchid will produce 10 flowers...
The orchid, estimated to be 30 to 50 years old, was discovered July 7 by hikers searching for an owl. The huge plant with tentacle-like roots is 150 feet off the Corkscrew Swamp boardwalk and about 45 feet high... "That's incredible," said Mike Owen, park biologist at Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park. Owen monitors and collects data on 44 different orchids, including the ghost. The biologist dubbed the Corkscrew Swamp flower "Super Ghost," because of its size and the energy needed to produce 10 blossoms. Ghost orchids are known to bloom more than once a summer, but never more than one or two blooms at a time, Owen said. "This thing is going to end up making 20 flowers in one summer. I've never heard anything like that," he said. The blossoms could possibly be coming from a second ghost orchid that has been hiding behind the first, Owen said... The second round of buds was discovered Sunday by R.J. Wiley, a photographer who takes pictures of... the flora and fauna in Corkscrew and works as a volunteer at the sanctuary. People have been calling Corkscrew every day to ask about the ghost orchid... Now that the orchid had reinvented itself, "we're good for another three or four weeks," Carlson said." URL : http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070807/NEWS0105/70807057 ************** Regards, VB _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [email protected] http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
