Florida Butterfly Orchid

Native orchids in the wild tend to be rare things, perhaps naturally, perhaps because of human exploitation and destruction of habitat, perhaps because of combination of the three.

Florida butterfly orchid, Encyclia tampensis, is one of the more common, or at least widespread, orchids native to the Sunshine State. It’s found throughout the Peninsula from Levy, Putnam and Flagler counties south into the Keys.

It is only present in Florida among the 50 states. It is also native to the Bahamas.

The Institute for Regional Conservation in Delray Beach lists it as present in 109 parks, preserves and other conservation areas throughout South Florida.

Florida butterfly orchidis an ephiphyte, meaning it finds a home on the trunks and branches of trees, particularly live oaks, but also palms, cypress, pond apples and mangroves. It is not a parasite, despite its presence; it only uses its tree host as a place to live, not stealing nutrients or water or even light.

The last three trees mentioned tells a little bit about the kind of environment or habitat that Florida butterfly orchid likes — mesic, or moist, hammocks, hardwood swamps and mangrove forests. These places tend to have higher humidity throughout the year.

Florida butterfly orchid has simple leaves that are long and relatively narrow — linear to lance-like — eight to 12 inches long. It sends out flowering branches that extend beyond the leaves.

It flowers in mid-spring late into early fall, producing a capsule-like fruit that’s full of tiny seeds that get dispersed by the wind.

The flowers are small but showy. Each has five tepals — finger-like structures that are green or yellow or brown, often with purple undertones. It has a white lip with a splotch of purple and purple veining. The butterfly-like shape of the flower is the inspiration for the plant’s common name.

Florida butterfly orchid flowers have a sweet fragrance to them (also described as honey-like) that attract bees of the Augochlora and Halictus genera of sweat bees.

A single plant can produce as many as 45 flower. The more sun a plant gets, the more flowers it will produce.

Encyclia Derrives from the Greek word enkyklein, which means to encircle and refers to the lip — a modified petal that serves as a kind of landing strip for pollinating insects — encircling the column — the reproductive parts of the orchid. Tampensis comes from Tampa, where the orchid was first described.

Othere common names for Florida butterfly orchid includes Tampa butterfly orchid. It is a member of Orchidaceae, the orchid family.

Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park