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.