Seeding is Believing

This Florida butterfly orchid (Encyclia tampensis) was flowering and forming seed pods in the Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory parking lot. We tend to look for Nature in parks and conservation areas and not where we park. Marylou Rethman (Class of 2003) shared that one of the best places to see Florida butterfly orchids is in the parking lot of the Holy Cross Catholic Church.

Small bees pollinate Florida butterfly orchids and are attracted to the honey-like fragrance emitted by the orchid during the middle of the day. Check out the formation of a seed capsule that will hold lost and lots of tiny seeds that will be dispersed by the wind.

A few of the many seeds will attach to a rough surface, like the deeply furrowed bark of a live oak tree (Quercus virginiana), and, under the right conditions, germinate.

… flower, become pollinated & produce more seed capsules …