Scientists Work With Cuba To Bring Lost Orchids Back To Florida State Park

Image: Mike Owen, park biologist at Fakahatchee Strand Preserve in Florida, documents an orchid growing on a cypress tree. Greg Allen/NPR

npr.org - November 10th, 2015 - Greg Allen

With their garish blooms, there's something special about orchids, and in the U.S., no place has more native species than Fakahatchee Strand Preserve. The state park in Southwest Florida was the setting for the 1998 book The Orchid Thief. Scientists there are working to bring back varieties lost through the years to poachers and habitat destruction.

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