Faced with extinction, rare Florida swamp flowers can gain more protection

One of the Ghost Orchids, Florida’s rarest and most beloved swamp resident, could quickly see an increase in protection under the federal Endangered Species Species Act.

Citing the increased risk of flower extinction, US Fish and Wildlife Service officials this week announced a proposal to list ghost orchids as endangered species.

The decision has been welcomed by experts as a lifeline for phantom flowers after decades of poaching, wetland reduction and habitat loss.

Federal wildlife experts say there are fewer than 1,000 ghost runs remaining in the United States, and less than half of them are old enough to replicate. Globally, the population of Ghost Orchids has dropped by an estimated 90% over the last few decades.

“Ghost Orchid is Florida’s most famous flower and deserves a chance to live in,” said Melissa Abdo, Suncoast Regional Director of the National Park Conservation Association.

The ghost orchids, the true child of the swamp, cling to high above ancient cypress trees and pond apples, blooming in the quiet humidity of midsummer. The white hanging petals, seemingly far away in the air, are the reason for their terrifying name.

The proposed increase in Ghost Orchid Conservation comes more than three years after a coalition of environmental advocacy groups, including the Parks Association, the Center for Biodiversity and the Institute for Community Conservation.

Jaclyn Lopez, director of Democracy and Environment at St. Petersburg-based Jacobs Public Interest Law Clinic and the Stetson University School of Law, helped file the petition in 2022.

According to Lopez, the list of endangered species imposes civil and criminal penalties under federal law on anyone who removes flowers from federal or state public lands. The decision requires federal wildlife officials to diagram the course for recovery.

“Once confirmed, the listing (Endless Species Species Act) ensures a future where wild Florida is enriched and decorated with this beauty,” Lopez told the Tampa Bay Times in a statement.

Ghost Orchid is located in small slivers in Florida’s swamps, including the Big Cypress National Reserve, Florida Panther National Wildlife Reserve and Whakahachi Strand Preserve State Park. Collier, Hendry and perhaps other conservation and tribal lands in Lee County are also home to Orchids, according to the non-profit environmental group.

West Cuba also has a ghost run population, and according to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, they are considered to be seriously threatened.

Wildlife officials have not listed the boundaries of specific important habitats for flowers as they say it can increase the risk of poaching.

In 2023, state wildlife officials said they caught people trying to steal ghost runs from public swamps. The lore of flowers and the thieves it portrayed also influenced journalist Susan Oren’s 1998 non-fiction bestseller, Orchid Thief.

The listing proposal was officially made public on the federal register on Thursday, starting a 60-day public comment period that ends in early August.

The coalition of nonprofits that filed their first petition underscored the importance of federal wildlife staff as the Trump administration exacerbated habitat protection and fired employees to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, including Florida.

“This is welcome news for Florida’s famous and inexplicable ghost run,” Elise Bennett of the Center for Biodiversity, director and lawyer for Florida and the Caribbean, wrote in a statement in The Times.

But “the constant attack on groundbreaking environmental laws aimed at stopping species from extinction has proven that work here is not finished.”

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