Emily Chan
Let’s try to imagine, for just a moment, a world without flowers. Nature would be a lot less colorful, that’s for sure. It may not be immediately apparent, but flowers are an essential part of our daily lives.
We see them everywhere, whether it’s a patch of yellow dandelions in an overgrown, grassy field or the bright bulbs of tulips in a neighbor’s garden.
Bouquets of blossoms are given out on Mother’s Day and anniversaries and are specially featured at weddings.
We humans are so captivated by flowers that we have assigned special meanings to them. For example, red roses signify romantic love, white carnations symbolize purity and innocence, and so on and so forth.
Our love for beautiful things is why significant measures are being considered to protect the endangered ghost orchid.
The spooky-sounding orchid species grow in the swampy areas of Southern Florida and can also be found in Cuba.
According to the U.S Fish and Wildlife Services, the ghost orchid may be able to receive proper protection under the Endangered Species Act. A decision on that will be reached by January 2023.
The plant’s biggest threat is the hurricanes that frequently plague the state of Florida. Right behind these catastrophic tropical storms are poaching and loss of habitat. The climate change crisis is worsening the impact of hurricanes, causing the destruction of many ghost orchids.
The National Parks Conservation Association states that the orchid population has decreased by more than 90 percent.
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