"the Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park in southwest Florida. ... has been the scene of numerous orchid thefts...
park biologist Mike Owen... lead[s]... group of orchid enthusiasts... during a four-hour swamp walk. more species of orchids... grow wild here than anywhere else in the country... There are 315 ghost orchids scattered across the Fakahatchee's 85,000 acres, according to Owen... They don't bloom until summer... The park offers these Saturday tours during Florida's November to April dry season, when the orchids are easier to find. The park lies about 70 miles west of Miami, across the Miccosukee Indian Reservation and a five-mile stretch of road... The Fakahatchee is part of the Everglades ecosystem that streams down from Lake Okeechobee to the Florida Keys. It's the largest strand swamp in the world [really ?]: a 19-mile long channel cut 2- to 3-feet deep into a limestone bed over more than 5,000 years. Low streams called sloughs flow throughout the strand... [Owen's ] notes document the locations and conditions of endangered plants; some... are growing where previous orchids were stolen... come across a ghost orchid, it will get a detailed entry - how many roots it has, how high off the ground it is and other remarks on its health. ... our first orchid... flat green roots of a ribbon orchid... a blooming orchid that Owen calls the "roller coaster orchid." "flowered star orchid," he says... Owen temporarily stopped taking tours into this particular slough after several orchids went missing. He's overjoyed to find tiny helmet and night-scented orchids growing in a blank patch in the moss on a tree - the scar of an orchid theft. Their remote habitat and fear of the unknown protect the orchids that remain from all but the most determined thieves, Owen says. ... After more than three hours in the water, we've seen 10 different orchid species on this walk - but not the ghost orchid.... Owen's hands suddenly go up in victory. A thin green ribbon with white dash lines appears to be tied around the rough bark of a pond apple tree. It's a young ghost orchid. ... Orchid nurseries famous in the state... can't grow these delicate plants... Ghost orchids restrict themselves to very specific growing conditions, pollinated by just one species of moth... Owen is encouraged to find three active growing tips... and deems the plant generally healthy. He's been watching it since 2003, and guesses it could be another decade before it blooms. ... The park is about a two-hour drive west of Miami and is located just west of Copeland... Swamp walks last about four hours." URL : http://www.miamiherald.com/775/story/430075.html ***************** Regards, VB _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [email protected] http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
