Our Wonderful Orchids
Slender ladies’ tresses orchid
Considered relatively rare across the landscape, orchids are an exciting find during biodiversity surveys. They are a helpful puzzle piece when determining habitat types, and their presence is often indicative of high-quality habitat.
yellow lady’s slipper, an uncommon orchid of calcareous soils.
The orchids in our flora are prized by botanists, nature-lovers, and gardeners alike, due to their often show flowers, intricate flower structure, rarity, and complex ecological relationships with both insect pollinators and soil fungi.
An essential mechanism of the germination and growth of most orchids is the association with mycorrhizal fungi present in the soil. This symbiotic relationship is highly specific for some orchids, such a yellow lady’s slipper, Cypripedium parviflorum, which depends on a certain family of fungi to provide nourishment to its seeds.
Many orchids are threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation, nutrient pollution, contaminants, collecting, and the effects of deer and livestock. Orchids are variable protected in New York.
Hoverflies, mason wasps, carpenter bees, dart moths, and even mosquitos are all known pollinators of orchids. Black and spicebush swallow-tails are two of the more showy orchid pollinators.
For more information about orchids visit The North American Orchid Conservation Center.
Scroll through the slideshow below to learn more about some of the orchids that can be found in our region.
