Awesome!!!! I moved to Florida a year ago and have since acquired around 100 orchids, my most recent being a Ghost Orchid from Oak Hill. I doubt I will be able to get it to ever bloom, but hope to at least be able to keep it alive for awhile. Being that it is so very humid should hopefully make it a little easier than had I attempted this up north, I guess....

I thank you for sharing these pics, and don't blame you for not wanting to divulge the site. If you are near Naples, would you be willing to have a fellow orchid lover tag along when you go back - promise all I'll take are pictures! (You can even blindfold me enroute......

Deb

PS It looks fairly dry there...I wonder if this year's drought has caused more orchids to spike......

Deb, there was no standing water at all out there. The mud was still wet but no water. Sorry, for the safety of the plants I'm goign to keep this place a total secret. I will post more pictures after the next trip out.

Wow, what an incredible find! I look forward to seeing the pics of the blooms.

Sheial :)

How exciting! What a treat to see them in situ. Thanks for the pictures.

I'm just back from the Midwest Orchid Congress in Chicago. As I walked into one of the vendor areas, Oak Hill had a Ghost Orchid in bloom! It took my breath away - first time I'd seen one for real and not just a picture.

The Oak Hill guy - Gary, Glen, Greg? (apologies to him) said that it was a matter of finding the right spot for them, and then they'll bloom reliably. His large plant had 4-5 buds on it, and he said 3 more back at the greenhouse bloom every year in a corner of the greenhouse with "stagnant" air.

The nice guy said that, because mine was pushing roots and getting bigger, it would bloom in time. Wow! You mean no small animals have to be sacrificed?

Yes, more pictures please, when you go back. Whitecat8

What an experience. Looking forward to seeing them in bloom.

Marci

Wonderful! It is alway exciting to find orchids where they live naturally. I had the good fortune to find a Harrisella porrecta in bloom also in Florida.
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I agree you should keep the location secret.

Congrats!!!!! I once came across Platanthera lacera on a hike in Nova Scotia.

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Reading your post refreshes that memory...I can just feel your excitement! Can't wait to see your pics of the Ghosts in bloom!

Steph

Before reading the post, I had never heard of the ghost orchid, but upon looking online a bit, I'm left with "holy smokes". Are there leaves that I can't see in the picture? how does it photosynthesize, it just looks like a mass of mangled roots. Furthermore are there any other more common "roots only" orchids that can be purchased legally (and ethically) and grown in zone 8? Thanks

Marvelous! I'd probably still be there, just looking and enjoying.

I'm also very happy to see that these plants don't need every root to be perfect in order to thrive. I have some good ones on my little plant, but others are looking pretty fried and dried. There's hope!

Sharon

Oh my god breath takeing!!!!!!!!!
I cannot belive your emotion when you discovered that place!!!
Please you need to inform the rangers of fakahatchee strand to survey this place, from the pix i have seen it seems to be an untouched place where ghosts are found like when they were more common ( I am italian I have only read stories on this but I believe you found such a place that maybe neither mike owen in the reserve would belive )
I remember that also in the reserve the ghost has been told to be really hard to find and you found dozens it seems each tree has one or more!!!!!
I would love to have thoose pix you have done they are so beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Btw did you notecied any protocorm of ghost orchid growing near big ones?
I have a flask, and for what i can see protocorms are quite big, like green mass of cells but i am not completely sure if it's the deveelooped protocorm stage or if theese falsks are done with callus regeneration from the roots...
I am really curious to understand if they are seed grown.
Maybe if I may be able to see wild protocorms i can understand!
Thank you so much for shareing this!
Lot's of love
Marco

And in Georgia I would say that I would have been in "Hawg Heaven"! What a sight to behold!!
Thanks for the great pics!

Absolutely incredible! Not only the find, but the photos too. I went to your site to see all of them, and ran it as a slideshow. Breathtakingly beautiful! I'm glad you found them and really appreciate you sharing them with us (and the other orchid pics too). Please do update us!!

Thank you!
Carolyn

Misti here, Chris is out of town at the moment.

I gotta say I wish I'd of gone with him! Sucks to have a cold ya know? Anyway, I'm just itching to get out there and if you saw one of the spikes it appeared to me that it would be ready to bloom within a few weeks.

That little Harisella is a cutie! I'll have to add that to the list of ones to seek out when we're hiking.

We'd heard they are hard to find and we've been in the woods a lot since we've lived here and as much as we've swamp walked we haven't seen but "normal" orchids and the bent spur leafless orchid. LOL, the first time we saw the bent spur we thought it was a ghost until we went home and id'd it. It had seed pods so it was an easy identifier.

Anyway, we'll post photos when we *hopefully* get one in flower.

For that, look on twigs on pine and old citrus. They are quite small and look like a gray smudge from more than a couple of feet away.

I went out again yesterday to the same spot to do a little more exploring and to check up on the ghosts. Here are some pics...

I love the roots!
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Old spikes
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Fresh spike coming out
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Seed pod from last year
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Another pod from last year, amazing!
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This was unreal! A new root was forming on the old spike! Anyone ever heard of this happening with Polyrhiza lindenii?
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Buds forming on adjacent plants
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WOW! Bloom abaout to open!
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Bloom about to open with hand for size
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The entire set can be found here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mistilittle/sets/72157600184492773/

I still am amazed ever time I look at these pics!

Great pics....although the copyright on the
pics are a bit distracting (especially the last one).

We got back out there today and were lucky enough to find 3 ghost orchids in bloom! Check out the pics...

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Group picture with ghost orchid above our heads
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The entire set set be seen here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mistilittle/sets/72157600232884252/

Chris and Misti-

I can't thank you enough! I'm thrilled that you saw and recognized them, and that you took the time to share your experience with us. While it's wonderful to see people growing them in their GH, you've been able to capture them in their natural environment.

Simply, truly, wonderful,
Carolyn

What a vicarious thrill. Thank you both for taking the time to share them with us. I've got goose bumps! Maybe I should say ghost bumps? LOL

Marci

chrisaggie,
you may weant to cross pollinate a few of the flowers and let them go to seed
since the microrhyzza from the fungi that allows the seeds to germinate are obviously there you could greatly increase the population in that area
I used to do the same thing with 2 different sprcies of Cypripedium in Valley Forge Park
was great to watch them sprout and grow
and finally bloom

I wonder if any were affected by the fires in the Everglades.
Barb

Thank you for the pictures! When I was about 11 years old my father took me to a place in his farm where I looked at the Ghost Orquid in bloom! That was many years ago! Before Castro! I left Cuba when I was forteen years old!
Thank you again!
Luis A. Valera

Another thank you for posting your beautiful pictures!

I especially appreciate all the detail of how they are growing. My little one is doing very well so far, and seeing those pictures helped decide what kind of mount to give it- A big old rough pine bark slab with a little moss here and there. Perfect.

Like out of the pages of "The Orchid Theif". Amazing. I've never had the distinct pleasure of seeing a ghost orchid in bloom, but your pictures are fantastic. A fabulous find. Congratualations.

I would definitely contact the rangers if it is in the Fakahatchee. The ranger guided tour only goes to one selected site, and not the other known sites for the ghost orchid.
If not in the Fakahatchee, why not contact NORP? Native Orchid Restoration Project, they are working with florida native orchids to restore and repopulate. They have the smithsonian and universities studying myco fungus and other aspects necessary to re-introduce native orchids. They are also doing pollination studies, last time I talked with the president.

IF you decide to pollinate on your own, be aware of some items.
First, if the plants are on public land, it's a crime to "disturb" them due to their endangered status. No big deal unless you are caught, LOL!!
Second, if it's a stand that NORP is using, you may be interfering in a research project. So mark them in some way so that any possible researchers know they were hand pollinated. They'll cuss you out, but you won't be there so who cares?? I'd use GH wire around the stem, obvious to anyone who happens on them.
Third, don't just pollinate the "pretty ones". Who knows what the natural pollinators want, a healthy population is a mixture of cute and not so cute. *G*

Some background - I was involved with a project on Tolumnia bahamensis on the east coast, had permits and everything. Similar to NORP, but less formal. The point man moved and our permit expired, and Atlanta botanical garden came in and glamored the rangers. Now I can't get back in, 3 years work lost! If I had talked the others into going with NORP, no problem. Learned my lesson, trying to help you keep in contact with the population for years, not get frozen out like I was. Makes you longtime legal if you go with NORP, *G*.

ps for bob in austin - there was an article in aos mag/rag in March 2003 on leafless orchids. And *someone* even got paid for his flight to texas to speak at Dallas, Ft Worth and Austin to give a talk on leafless in 2004. Ask around and get a copy of the article, or email me for a copy.

ps for all - Oak Hill had a special on leafless, don't see it now. But email greg and ask for it, who knows??

Here is a link that might be useful: NORP

We have no plans to hand pollinate these orchids as this population is doing etremely well on its own. We have contacted appropriate sources about these plants already.

kewl.
Good to know some are doing well.

Hi, and thanks for the great pictures. I to do some ghost hunting and have found a few myself, but I must say your picture are much better then mine! I have been hiking the Everglades for years and have located the usual as you say and also found Bletia purpurea (pine pink),Cyrtopodium punctatum (cigar orchid),Epidendrum magnoliae (green-fly orchid) and Campylocentrum pachyrrhizum (crooked-spur orchid). Again nice shots and Happy Hiking/Hunting

Well, I just had to bump this thread up again. It has been such an amazing year+ working with the ghost orchids!!! A few moths ago we even had the luck of seeing three wild florida panthers.

For the last six moths or so it has been my goal to see, and capture on video, the giant sphinx moth visiting the ghost orchid. To our knowledge this meeting has never been observed, only theorized. Last Saturday, May 17th Misti and I capture the giant sphinx moth on video drinking nectar from the ghost orchid!!! WOW, what a sight to see!

Hopefully in the not to distant future we will be sharing the video. Our goal is to get national geographic to pick it up...

Chris

Chris,

Any word on the video or if NG picked it up? I'm so envious that you witnessed the sphnix moth - WOW.

Steve
Davis Islands