Green-fly orchid may be more abundant
than known records indicate. Small plants attached to the
limbs of trees often escape notice, especially those camouflaged
by resurrection fern, Polypodium polypoides, and
Spanish moss, Tillandsia usneoides. Green-fly orchid
blooms in July. The scientific name Epidendrum means
“tree-dweller” and conopseum means “gnat-like”.
The southern rein orchid, Platanthera
flava, is another engaging orchid found in the Delta,
usually blooming in May. This tiny orchid is typically found
in wet and frequently shaded situations. The southern rein
orchid is found over most of the United States east of the
Mississippi River drainage except south Florida. After pollination,
the ovaries of this species swell quickly, well before the
flower begins to wilt. At this time each yellowish-green
southern rein orchid flower appears to be growing from an
oval jade vase.
Tiny-leaved buckthorn, Sageretia minutiflora,
one of the rarest shrubs in the United States, is also known
to occur in the delta. Its specific habitat is found on
and around the calcareous shell mounds in the Mobile-Tensaw
Delta, as well as on Little Dauphin Island and Dauphin Island.
This shrub blooms in September and has very fragrant flowers.
The rare sarvis holly, Ilex amelanchier,
has been reported from only 3 counties in Alabama, Mobile,
Washington and Baldwin. It occurs in woodlands astride creeks,
river floodplain forests and cypress-gum swamps. It is found
in the sub-canopy under red maple, tupelo gum and cypress.
Sarvis holly is a difficult plant to locate when not in
fruit, especially after losing its leaves. It is one of
the rarest hollies in the state.
Loblolly bay, Gordonia lasianthus,
not to be confused with sweetbay, Magnolia virginiana, which
is also called bay, is found only in Baldwin, Covington,
Geneva, and Mobile counties in Alabama. Loblolly bay is
found in swamps, bogs, hammocks and bays along the southern
coastal plain, from southern Virginia, west to Louisiana,
and south to Lake Okeechobee in peninsular Florida. The
flowers are fragrant, showy and white, about two to three
inches across, and are open in midsummer for a period of
several weeks. The loblolly bay is botanically related to
the tea plant of Asia. This tree is a beautiful evergreen,
growing up to 70 feet in height, with leathery oblong leaves
that are dark green above and paler below.
