I suspect this may be a case of self pollination. icones
Subject: [OGD] Eulophia graminea / popping up in Florida (US) > "orchid... popping up in Miami-Dade County in disturbed and abandoned lots > as well as in manicured and mulched garden beds... not a native... > > Its one-inch flowers are mostly green, although the lip is white and pink. > The leaves occasionally appear after the flower stalk. > It grows in the ground, and when small, it has a roundish bulb... > > said Suzanne Koptur, an ecologist at Florida International University. > ``It's a very tough, strong... seems to pop up from ... seeds that find > what they need in that cypress mulch.'' > ... > The monk orchid might displace... ''... things like... native orchid, > Eulophia alta ,'' Koptur said... > > The new Eulophia orchid was first noticed last year by one of Koptur's > neighbors, Harvey Bernstein, who found it growing in the mulch beds around > his succulent collection. Bernstein is a plant curator at Fairchild > Tropical Botanic Garden... > > When he didn't recognize the plant, he took it to Koptur, but she didn't > recognize it, either. > > It worked its way through several orchid growers until, finally, Bob > Pemberton, a research associate with Fairchild, solved the... mystery. > > The little orchid is Eulophia graminea... from Southeast Asia, Burma and > subtropical islands of the Pacific. It has become naturalized in northern > Australia, and now... it is in the Redland, Miami Dade College's North > Campus, Little River, South Miami and even in a parking lot on Virginia > Key. > > ... young plants are slight enough to remain overlooked... > > In Miami's Palm Grove neighborhood, just west of Belle Meade... Don > Wallstedt found many eulophias growing in rocky soil in two empty lots. > > ''I saw these little flowers and knew it was an orchid but didn't know > what > kind,'' he said. ``I looked in Wild Orchids of Florida, which has every > orchid that's ever been seen in Florida, and knew I had something > unique.'' > > ... How did it get here? > > ... Pemberton found several of the plants for sale on eBay, as well as a > Thai source offering the bulbs and even a source in Scotland offering > plants... > > Its dust-like seeds may have been carried on the wind. > ... > it seems to like only cypress mulch, Koptur said. Her native landscape is > mulched with local wood chips... > > It is setting seed in Miami-Dade... meaning something may be pollinating > it... > > Wallstedt believes it may be a tiny blue butterfly, which appeared in a > photo published with his account in The Biscayne Times. > > Pemberton disagrees. To serve as a pollinator, the butterfly would have to > carry the orchid's... pollinia, on its body from one flower to the next. > Pemberton went to Wallstedt's site, counted 25 of the little butterflies > and caught 20, then did a body search on them for signs of pollen... > > Koptur, who spent hours watching the flowers in a neighbor's yard to see > if > anything showed up to pollinate them, suggests ants. > > Pemberton disagrees. ''Ant pollination of orchids is very rare,'' he said. > ``Most ants groom themselves with secretions from glands on the sides of > their thorax. Those secretions contain an antifungal material that kills > pollen.'' > > Pemberton proposes that the pollinator may be a bee. The lip of the flower > not only has colored stripes that usually are landing guides for bees, but > it also has mini structures that stick up like the tiniest of fingers, > which are attractive to bees." > > URL : http://www.miamiherald.com/457/story/594330.html > > ************* > Regards, > > VB > > > _______________________________________________ > the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) > [email protected] > http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [email protected] http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
