Ecology college

A Spotted Coral-Root Orchid, one of Iowa's 32 orchid species. Photo by Marshal Hedin on Flickr via Creative Commons.

For more than a decade, the Iowa Natural Heritage magazine has carried educational features about everything from getting kids outdoors to the ongoing battles between plans and herbivores to the legacy of the Civilian Conservation Corps still visible in our state parks.

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Ecology College Lesson of the Month: Iowa's Wild Orchids
By Bill Witt

Did you know Iowa has more orchid species than Hawaii?

Orchids hold a special place in our view of the natural world, conjuring romantic, exotic images of bright blossoms glowing in the soft, dim light of tropical forests. But they also play a significant part in shaping our vision of Iowa's natural history: because orchids have highly specific requirements for germination, growth, and reproduction, their presence--or absence--in a woodland, bog, or prairie can provide biologists and conservationists an important clue about the quality of a natural site.

Iowa's natural heritage is rich and diverse, a "council ground of the biomes" where in pre-settlement times several of North America's great natural communities converged and overlapped. These included the eastern and northern forests, and the tall- and mid-grass prairies. In addition, rare geologic occurrences, such as the Loess Hills, the fens of northwest Iowa, and the cold air slopes of northeast Iowa's Driftless Area created micro-habitats that allowed certain species to live hundreds of miles outside their normal ranges.

Iowa's native orchids reflect this diversity: since 1843, when the first collections were made, until 1987 when an amateur botanist discovered the only known Iowa site for the Spring Ladies Tresses, 32 species of orchids have been recorded in The Beautiful Land.

To learn more about orchids, click on Wild Orchids in the sidebar.