Orchid Borealis

Habenaria repens is a widely distributed species, from the Southeastern United States, Central America, the Carribean and the majority of South America ( link to a distribution map, some of these are not within the native range).  Within the US, it occurs in the coastal states from North Carolina to Texas ( link to the occurrence map). This species grows in moist area, and it can grow as a semi-aquatic plants, growing on floating mats on ponds (Hunt 1943).  As an interesting side note, a phenolic compound, called habenariol , has been extracted from this species and its antioxidant activity has been reported (Johnson et al. 1999).  It turned out that this compound is a feeding deterrent against the freshwater omnivorous crayfish, Procambarus clarkii .  It is interesting that people used to think that herbivory wouldn't be a big problem for aquatic plants, but this example shows that this orchid has evolved the counter-measure against herbivory. From a dist...

Habenaria floribunda is a wide-spread species, occurring in Florida, West Indies, Mexico, Central America, all the way down to Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil (link to a world-wide distribution map ). It is one of the most common orchids in Florida ( distribution in florida ).  They grow in damp forest floor. In Florida, it is supposed to bloom in September up north and in February in south according to this site .  A blog post by Prem Subrahmanyam contains the photos of this species in their native habitat.  Some people say that the strong scent of this species is unpleasant.  But I agree with Prem, it is not a bad smell at all.  It is kind of "floral" smell, and similar to the smell inside of flower shop. Although it is wide-spread and fairly common, it doesn't seem to be a popular species among orchid growers.  But when you look at the detail of individual flowers, it is rather exotic (as with many species in genus Habenaria )! I got this plant from L...