Cigar Orchid Conservation

By Houston Sneed, Plant Conservation Officer

South Florida is home to many unique ecosystems and species. Development changes the landscape to be suitable for human activities and typically displaces native species. Animals are able to move and flee these activities, but native plants are not able to relocate in the same way. Conservation concerns also include poaching or the illegal collection of threatened and endangered plant species. One of the most unique ecosystems in Florida is the Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park. This 85,000-acre preserve is home to an amazing diversity of species and is home to 44 species of native orchids. Orchids are highly sought after by poachers, and this puts them at the top of the priority list for conservation.

Cyrtopodium Punctatum, commonly known as the cigar orchid, bee swarm orchid, or cow horn orchid is a remarkable species that puts on a huge show of beautiful flowers and has been sought after by collectors for decades. Clear cut logging of the Fakahatchee in the 1940s put significant pressure on the amount of habitat available for cigar orchids, but poaching of cigar orchids made the problem even worse. Poachers would harvest the flowering plants and sell them to collectors where these plants usually ended up dying. By 2006 it was believed there were less than 25 individual plants in the entire 85,000-acre swamp forest.

To restore the population to sustainable numbers, an ambitious restoration experiment was conceived. State Park managers and Atlanta Botanical Garden worked to cross pollinate cigar orchid plants in the wild and legally harvest seed. This seed was then grown in Atlanta and plantlets were produced for restoration. In 2015, the Zoo joined the fieldwork when seedlings were transported back to South Florida for outplanting. Over the years, around 2,000 plants were planted back in their habitat and monitored for survival. Many of the plants have thrived in their new home and some have even produced flowers. In the future we hope to observe naturally occurring seedlings. Every membership contributes to conservation projects locally and abroad!