White Orchid!

White Orchid!

I have always liked orchids, although I was never able to grow them in the Midwest.

When the Captain and I moved to Florida, we soon found out that almost everyone grows orchids. 

Any nursery or Home Depot or Lowes, have many colors and varieties to choose from….much like we would have tables and tables of petunias in various colors back in Kansas…orchids are second nature to some here in the Sunshine State.

I have two orchids (or air plants) on my Lanai…one blooms frequently and the other…well, lets just say the other one is stubborn, but the leaves are very pretty. 🙂

However, there is a very rare, white orchid which lives deep in the Everglades, that is called the Ghost Orchid.

This orchid is so rare that scientists have braved the “critters” in the swamps and climbed trees as high as 50 feet off the ground just to photograph it.

The name Ghost Orchid comes from the fact that the delicate flower appears suspended from a thin vine, which gives the impression that the orchid is floating through the swampy tree canopy. 

Of course with all things rare, this orchid has been the target of poachers for it’s sweet scent and delicate nature.

The pollination is by a Sphinx moth and apparently adds to the mystery of this fascinating, alluring plant which blooms just a few short weeks in the summer.

Ghost orchids became the subject of a novel by  Susan Orleans, titled “The Orchid Thief,” which featured an Orchid Collector in South Florida who hired Seminole Indians to climb the trees to collect the plants.

Sort of reminds me of the movie “Medicine Man” with Sean Connery, one of my favorite movies!

 

 

The movie is set deep in the Amazon rain forest and Sean Connery plays an eccentric scientist.  

The scientist is working on a cancer research project which involves collecting a derivative of a species of flower from which a “formula” can be synthesized.

In the movie, he  swings on vines, high in the tops of the trees, to collect this special serum.

This is all set to beautiful music, making it appear to be a ballet in the tall trees of the jungle.

(For those who have seen this movie….you know what I am talking about.) 🙂

Sorry, but I digress from the Ghost Orchid. 🙂 See pic below.

This white elusive orchid is called a ghost orchid because it’s delicate “lobes” resemble a fragile ghost. The bloom is about the size of a tennis ball and the root system latches on and blends with the cypress trees making it more difficult to see.

Some say, the ghost orchid  first bloomed more than 80 million years ago!

Since I was not around in that period of time…contrary to a few opinions from those who shall remain nameless. (OK…My children), I have to take their word for the orchid’s beginnings.

 

As I stated above….I do like orchids and the above shows one of my blooming orchids.

It keeps producing waxy ivory colored lobes with a touch of fushia and I think it is very pretty….

I better think it is pretty as the Captain gave it to me! 🙂

I will never have one of the Ghost Orchids …I am just not good at wading through snake and alligator infested swamps or swinging through the trees! ;(

Do you like Orchids?

Have a great week-end!

 

 

Me