Britain's rarest wildflower the ghost orchid returns from the dead after 23 years

[n2doc]

By Michael McCarthy Environment Editor
Friday, 19 March 2010


The ghost orchid, translucent in the darkness, was rediscovered last September


It is the most mysterious wildflower in Britain, the strangest, the rarest, the hardest to see, and it was given up for lost. But like a wandering phantom, the ghost orchid has reappeared.

After an absence of 23 years, during which it was declared extinct, this pale, diminutive flower, the most enigmatic of all Britain's wild plants, rematerialised last autumn in an oak wood in Herefordshire.

Its sighting, initially kept a close secret, has electrified the British botanical community. Forget your black tulip. This has been British botany's holy grail, searched for annually and ardently by a small army of enthusiasts for more than two decades, but never found.

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/so-there-you-are-britains-rarest-wildflower-returns-from-the-dead-after-23-years-1923853.html

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Cool I love it when Mother Nature surprises us little people on the planet

[saltpoint]

3. Seconded.

:thumbsup: :hi:

[Oceansaway]

2. Wow, Obama must be the Messiah !..n/t

[Cobalt-60]

4. Looks a little like a Triifid

There wasn't any meteor activity, was there?

[saltpoint]

5. It's breathtaking.

The orchid itself is breathtaking and the narrative of its rediscovery is, too.

What a great post.

[AllyCat]

6. Great news! Thanks for this to lighten my night!

[Sancho]

7. Loch Ness searchers, there is still hope!

:wow: