A rare wild flower is the star of the Florida swamp. But can it survive?
In “The Orchid Thief,” author Susan Orlean wrote of a “phantom” flower hidden deep in the swamps of Southwest Florida “so bewitching that it could seduce people to pursue it year after year and mile after mile.”
Her best-seller about an obsessive poacher would help make the once-obscure ghost orchid the most famous wild flower in the sprawling Everglades ecosystem.
Twenty-five years later, the ghost orchid remains a star attraction during its summer bloom at the Audubon Corkscrew
Swamp Sanctuary, one of the few places where everyday nature-goers can see one without slogging through muck and chest-high water. But what lies ahead for the flower is less certain than ever.
A coalition of environmental groups have filed paperwork threatening to sue the federal government for not moving quickly enough to protect the few ghost orchids that remain — an estimated 1,500. A formal lawsuit could come as early as this month.
Poaching cases — there was a bust as recently as October — remain a threat, but far from the only one. A single hurricane can wipe out dozens. After Hurricane Irma hit in 2017, scientists observed 30% of ghost orchid host trees had died in one area. Climate change is likely to bring stronger storms and increased sea-rise that in the decades ahead could push salt water into the freshwater swamps where the ghost lives. There are fears about encroaching development.
“It’s facing a very precarious future,” said Melissa Abdo, a conservation biologist and regional director with one of the potential plaintiffs, the National Parks Conservation Association. “Every single species has its role in an ecosystem. We need bold action now.”
A LEGAL QUEST FOR ENDANGERED LISTING
A lawsuit would follow a long campaign by environmental groups to have the rare flower placed on the federal list of threatened and endangered species — a designation with wideranging effects.
“The Endangered Species Act is an incredible tool to prevent