Long before you have learned to distinguish the major plant communities,
you will be aware of the air plants—or epiphytes—that grow so profusely
in Everglades. Epiphytes are non-parasitic plants that grow on other
plants, getting their nourishment from the air. Best known is Spanish
moss, which festoons the trees of the coastal South from Virginia to
Texas; this plant is used by the swallow-tailed kite in constructing its
beautiful nest. Despite its name, Spanish moss is actually a member of
the pineapple family—the bromeliads. Bromeliads are the most conspicuous
of the park’s air plants. The epiphytic orchids, though less common, are
celebrated for their beauty; their fame, unfortunately, has led to their
widespread destruction. There are also epiphytic ferns, trees, and
vines; and one cactus, the mistletoe cactus, has taken to the air.
Air plants are highly specialized for making a living under crowded
conditions; there are more than 2,000 species of plants competing for
sun and water in southern Florida. The epiphytes have adapted to the
problem of space by growing on other plants. Their roots, although they
absorb some water and minerals, are primarily anchors. Living in an
atmosphere that fluctuates between drought and humidity, they have
evolved several water-conserving tricks. Some have a reduced number of
leaves; others have tough skins that resist loss of water through
transpiration; still others have thick stems, called pseudobulbs, that
store moisture. The bromeliads are particularly ingenious: many have
leaves shaped in such a way that they hold rainwater in vaselike
reservoirs at their bases. Mosquitoes and tree frogs breed in these tiny
reservoirs, and in dry periods many arboreal animals seek the dew that
collects here.
Most of the orchids and bromeliads grow in the dimly lit tropical
hardwood hammocks and cypress sloughs. A few species, however, having
adapted to the sunlight, live on dwarf mangroves and the scattered
buttonwoods, pond apples, willows, and cocoplums of the glades. The
butterfly and cowhorn orchids are sun lovers, as are the twisted,
banded, and stiff-leaved bromeliads. All have adapted to the sun with
dew-condensing mechanisms or vases at the bottom of the clustered
leaves.
[Illustration: COMMON BROMELIADS]
[Illustration: STIFF-LEAVED WILDPINE]
[Illustration: NEEDLE-LEAVED AIR PLANT]
[Illustration: SMALL CATOPSIS]
[Illustration: REFLEXED WILDPINE]
[Illustration: TWISTED AIR PLANT]
[Illustration: SOFT-LEAVED WILDPINE]
[Illustration: SPANISH MOSS]
[Illustration: BANDED WILDPINE]
[Illustration: BALL-MOSS]
One tree, the strangler fig, starts as an epiphytic seedling on the
branches of other trees. Eventually, however, it drops long aerial roots
directly to the ground or entwines them about the trunk of the host
tree—which in time dies, leaving a large fig tree in its place.
Of all Everglades plants, the epiphytic orchids are most fascinating to
man—a fact which largely explains their decline. Of some 50,000 species
around the world (the orchids being one of the largest of plant
families), the park has only a few. Fire, loss of habitat due to
agriculture and construction, and poaching by both commercial and
amateur collectors have brought about the extermination of some and have
made others exceedingly rare. Some are rare because of special life
requirements. For example, a few must live in association with a certain
fungus that coats their roots and provides specific nutrients.
The largest orchid in the park is the cowhorn, some specimens of which
weigh as much as 75 pounds. Unfortunately, this orchid has been a
popular item for orchid growers and collectors and is becoming rare in
Florida. Poachers have practically eliminated it from the park. In the
late 1960s Boy Scout friends of Everglades salvaged many orchids from
hammocks about to be bulldozed for the jetport. By laboriously tying
them to trees in the park, they assured the survival of the plants.
The night-blooming epidendrum is perhaps the most beautiful of the
park’s orchids. It is widespread and fairly common in Everglades,
occurring in all ecosystems. Flowering throughout the year, it bears its
white, spiderlike blossoms, 2 inches across, one at a time. It is
especially fragrant at night—hence its name.
[Illustration: SHOWY ORCHIDS OF THE HAMMOCKS AND TREE ISLANDS]
[Illustration: BROWN EPIDENDRUM]
[Illustration: DOLLAR ORCHID]
[Illustration: NIGHT BLOOMING EPIDENDRUM]
[Illustration: SPREAD-EAGLE ORCHID]
[Illustration: BUTTERFLY ORCHID]
[Illustration: FLORIDA ONCIDIUM]
[Illustration: MULE-EAR ORCHID]
[Illustration: OBLONG-LEAVED VANILLA]
[Illustration: GHOST ORCHID]
[Illustration: SPIDER ORCHID]
[Illustration: CLAMSHELL ORCHID]
[Illustration: WORM-VINE ORCHID]
[Illustration: COWHORN ORCHID]
[Illustration: TRINIDAD MACRADENIA]
Epiphytic orchids have the smallest seeds of any flowering plants.
Dustlike, they travel far and wide on the air; it is believed that over
eons all species of Florida orchids arrived on the wind from South
America and the West Indies.
The giant wildpine is a spectacular bromeliad that grows on the sturdy
limbs of buttonwoods, spreading to 48 inches and developing a flower
stalk 6 feet long.
Of the approximately 20 species of epiphytic ferns in the park, the most
common is the curious resurrection fern. Sometimes called the poor man’s
barometer, it has leaves that in dry weather curl under and turn brown
but with the coming of rain quickly unfold and turn bright green, making
instant gardens of the logs, limbs, and branches on which they grow.
Watch for the air plants (as well as the trees and other wildflowers)
that have been labeled along the trails and boardwalks. You will be able
to examine some of them closely—but leave them unharmed for future
visitors!