Overview

• The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed listing the ghost orchid as endangered under the Endangered Species Act.
• Fewer than 1,000 ghost orchids remain in the United States, and less than half are mature enough to reproduce.
• Poaching stands as the single greatest threat to the species, with habitat loss and environmental degradation also undermining its survival.
• The agency is withholding critical habitat designation to avoid revealing exact swamp locations and risking further illegal collection.
• The leafless epiphyte grows in humid, shaded swamps of Collier and Hendry counties in Florida and is also native to western Cuba, earning its name from its floating white blossoms.