The Good Fungus: Fungus & Orchid Conservation

Endangered Liparis liliifolia

I used to be very ambivalent about fungus. On the one hand, I like mushrooms on my pizza. On the other hand, I'm highly susceptible to athlete’s foot, and I hate fungus gnats with a burning passion. Now, after hearing Melissa McCormick talk at the MidAmerican Orchid Congress, I'm a fungus fan. The MAOC was held in conjunction with the Central Indianapolis Orchid Society annual show. It was an awesome show. I came home with a Paph. urbanianum and a lot of knowledge.

McCormick argued that native orchid species should be a central focus for conservation. She claimed that orchids are both the “pandas of the plant world” and “canaries in the coal mine” of entire ecosystems. The beauty of orchids can draw us into caring about conservation botanical conservation, and this is a good thing because orchids are often the first species to perish when ecosystems experience stress.

We need to have “pandas” because its hard to get people excited about fungus. But fungus is important because all orchid species form essential relationships with fungi. Orchid seeds have no self-contained source of food, so they need to find their fungus to develop and germinate. Some orchids, like the endangered Liparis liliifolia, require a singular type of fungi. Having the proper population of insect pollinators is a key element of orchid conservation, and now we realize that we need the right fungi, too. To restore orchid populations and their ecosystem we need to identify the fungal requirements of specific orchids. This requires fancy DNA techniques like “real-time quantitative PCR.” And this requires fancy money.

Do you want to help the fungus (and by “fungus,” I mean “orchids,” and by “orchids,” I mean “pandas”)? You should donate to The North American Orchid Conservation Center.

Photographing the 2011 Wisconsin Orchid Show

The 2011 Wisconsin Orchid Show at the Mitchell Park Conservatory in Milwaukee was awesome! The Wisconsin Orchid Society hosted a wonderful set of vendors and exhibitors, and the MidAmerican Orchid Congress ran a fabulous Fall meeting program. And, of course, I didn't take enough pictures.

I've attended a handful of orchid shows and I always try to take a lot of pictures. No matter how thorough my efforts appear to me at the time, I typically regret not taking better photos and more photos. The Wisconsin Orchid Show at the Mitchell Park Conservatory in Milwaukee presented special challenges. The exhibits were fantastic and well-lit by natural sunlight coming in from the glass space-age dome. Unlike most shows I've attended, the exhibits were set off against a natural background of trees and rock. It was a beautiful setting, but too challenging for my meager photography skills (I'm more comfortable with a black fabric background).

A couple of my friends are photography pros, so I have a sense of what quality photography is supposed to look like and its far distance from my point-and-click universe. I've never taken a class or read a book about photography so I lean on editing software. Photoshop bewilders me. I love Photoscape because it's free, easy to use, does almost everything I want, and takes up very little space on my computer. I also use an old Microsoft program called Picture It! which has a feature that superimposes the Rule of Thirds on the photo to allow for precise cropping.

My basic photographic strategy entails taking a lot of photos and letting only the very best see the light of day. I hope you enjoyed these five. I left a lot in the reject pile.   

Bulbophyllum echinolabium: Would You Like Flies with That?

Bulbophyllum echinolabium

The Wisconsin Orchid Society put on a fantastic show last week and I was delighted to attend. It was also the fall meeting of the MidAmerican Orchid Congress. I was surrounded by good people and fine orchids all weekend. However, I learned that some of the best looking orchids are not so welcoming -- unless you're a fly. A case in point is the lovely Bulbophyllum echinolabium  selected for AOS judging at the Wisconsin show.  

Cats and Catts readers might recall from earlier posts that orchid shows often feature two rounds of judging. The first round, the ribbon judging, compares each orchid against other orchids entered into the show. The second round of judging involves accredited orchid judges from the American Orchid Society selecting plants for further consider for national awards. Here, the orchids are compared against previously awarded plants of the same species or type. 

Paph. niveum, not smelly, Wisconsin 2011

I'm not an orchid judge but I love to sit in on these judging sessions if given an opportunity. You can learn a lot. Orchid judges assemble around a table with the plant as the centerpiece. Someone carefully measures the petals and sepals. Another retrieves information from a computerized database. They discuss the flower's shape, form, size, color, and other qualities. It's exciting. (Here, it's worth noting a few other things I find exciting -- old movies, contract bridge, and historical research -- just to put things into perspective). 

Anyway, the judges' conversations are invariably fascinating but it was difficult for me to focus because the flower smelled like rotting meat. Bulbophyllum are notoriously smelly, and that's why I don't have any in my collection. I'd rather have something like a Paph. niveum because it's pretty to look at and it doesn't stink. But I respect the Bulbophyllum genus and recognize the its evolutionary brilliance. Some of the species resemble rotting meat and have developed a bright red lip and horrid scent to attract carrion fly pollinators. And the flower's diabolical plan worked! A pack of green flies swarmed around it during the thirty minutes or so it was on the table. I saw the Bulbophyllum in its exhibit and, there too, a bunch of fly boys desperately buzzed around trying to get the rotting flesh. It's a beautiful flower, but I'm content to let others grow it.

Kentucky Orchids

The Kentucky Orchid Show last weekend was a ton of fun.  The speakers were exceptional and the Saturday dinner was outstanding.  The orchids?  Top-notch.  Check out this display from the Greater Cincinnati Orchid Society.  The center plant is M. clowesii grown by Jim Lurton.  He was also showing an impressive Dor. pulcherrima (hv. champorensis) 'Highjack' and a Phal. celebensis in the same display. 

You can't go wrong with a white Cattleya, but this one ('Arctic Star') shown by the Central Indiana Orchid Society was a delight.  Clear white petals, lacey lip, and yellow in the throat -- wow!


Are you up for another one?  How about this Habaneria erichmichelii 'Pink Cloud' AM/AOS by New Vision Orchids: