Ghost Orchid

Did you know

• The plant has no leaves — only a tangle of green roots clinging to tree bark, which is why the flower seems to float in midair.
• Susan Orlean's book 'The Orchid Thief' and the film 'Adaptation' both center on this single species.
• It's pollinated only by the giant sphinx moth, the only insect with a proboscis long enough to reach the nectar spur.
• There are estimated to be only a few thousand wild plants left, almost all in southwest Florida swamps.
• It can go years between blooms — even mature plants in good conditions sometimes skip multiple seasons.

Color meanings

Uses

• conservation
• orchid collecting (rarely cultivated)
• swamp ecology