Sarasota News Leader
June 21, 2013
species to satisfy the demands of their rich
patrons. Around that time, settlers were
wading through the Fakahatchee Strand in
south Florida, stripping orchids and other
epiphytes off the trees, despite snakes, alligators and clouds of mosquitoes.
Over-collection has thinned our flora. That,
along with loss of habitat and fire suppression, has caused plants to become rare or extinct. Though butterfly orchids are relatively
common in central and south Florida, it is
illegal to collect them — and other orchids
— from the wild.
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