Native Florida Orchid

9 years ago

My neighbor has this growing in the ground on his property. He doesn't know the name. He states he got a piece years ago from someone near Miami.

It blooms each year with thousands of blooms. Can't believe it grows in the ground, which in Florida is sand.

Any idea what it is?

Jane

Featured Answer

Ben(8b/9a north FL)

9 years ago

last modified: 9 years ago

They were easy to find in the everglades and that is why they are no longer there. They bloom when they have no leaves (mostly) and are easy target for poachers. I bought my plant at RF orchids. Why not enlighten your friend/neighbor and maybe restore a couple of pieces back into the wild with the help of local society members or maybe contact the staff at everglades national park and see how they can help.

If I was still in South Florida I would definitely volunteer to re establish a few pieces.

It would make a great feel good day to help out the orchid world, and of course locate plant out of reach of the next poacher.

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Comments (9)

shavedmonkey (Harvey in South Fl.)Z10b
9 years ago
Hi Jane, could you please provide a close up of the flowers? Thanks.
Ben(8b/9a north FL)
9 years ago
Cyrtopodium punctatum, aka "cow horn orchid" native to everglades and pretty much stripped out due to high visibility....I did grow one to very large size in a 14 inch clay pot filled with aliflor, it is deciduous, they put out an impressive display. There are several varieties cyrtopodium, see the AOS link

http://www.aos.org/orchids/orchids-a-to-z/letter-c/cyrtopodium.aspx
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Darlene (GreenCurls)
9 years ago
That is amazing!
blutayle
9 years ago
WOW!!!
jane__ny
Original Author
9 years ago
Ben, I also believe it is Cow Horn. I saw an article in Orchids Magazine from AOS and it looked the same.

My neighbor got a piece of this from an old man in Miami who said he got it from the Everglades. When he died, my neighbor asked his family if he could take a piece. He did not know it was an orchid. He was so amazed by the size of it that he decided he would ask for a piece.

He said the old man had it growing in a tree. The orchid was so huge it appeared that the tree was flowering.

My neighbor put it in a pot with sand and sat it by his tree and it has grown so large over the past 8 years. It appears rooted in the ground. The pot is broken and the plant is firmly in the ground.I knew it was an orchid but I've never seen anything like it. The flowers look like Oncidium type flowers.

Harvey, those were the only photos I took. The plant is not flowering now. I took it last month from a distance. I didn't want to walk in his yard.

Jane
Ingrida
9 years ago
What a show!
shavedmonkey (Harvey in South Fl.)Z10b
9 years ago
Ben, the AOS has a program to plant a million orchids in South Florida. http://www.fairchildgarden.org/science-conservation-/the-million-orchid-project Unfortunately they do not include Martin County even though we have many of the same orchids as the rest of South Florida. But still a good program.
Prem Subrahmanyam
9 years ago
Wow. That is a massive plant!