Rare Orchid Rediscovered 120 Years After Supposed Extinction

The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department's botanists confirmed they rediscovered a rare orchid that had been thought to be extinct in the state since 1902, exactly 120 years ago.

It is astounding, according to Bob Popp, a botanist with the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, to find a live population of a species that has been absent from our state for more than a century and is federally threatened. It is comparable to the ivory-billed woodpecker being rediscovered in Vermont.

A globally rare orchid that once bloomed in the eastern US states and Ontario is the small whorled pogonia. The species has not been found in Vermont before, but it is now known to be present on Winooski Valley Park District conservation land in Chittenden County.

Little is known about the species' habitat requirements, as is the case with many orchids.

iNaturalist

Aaron Marcus, an assistant botanist from the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, pointed out that finding rare orchid populations for conservation purposes is difficult because so much of where they grow depends on factors that are difficult to see or measure, like networks of fungi in the soil.

The most recent discovery was made possible by wildflower enthusiasts who reported their findings on an app. Populations in Maine and New Hampshire can be found in areas with partial sunlight, such as forest openings and edges.

Marcus claims that it was two community scientists, John Gange of Shelburne and Tom Doubleday of Colchester, who made their observations that alerted the department to the possibility of a small whorled pogonia population in Vermont.

Marcus calls Gange an enthusiastic and knowledgeable botanist. Gange is an expert in orchids and keeps a close eye on sightings reported on the citizen science app iNaturalist.

Marcus claims that Gange contacted us with the information that the orchid had likely only recently been discovered in Vermont after noticing that a birder, retired greenhouse manager Tom Doubleday, had used iNaturalist to ask for assistance in identifying an unfamiliar wildflower in July of last year.

This spring, Popp, Marcus, Doubleday, and Gange visited the location once more to confirm the existence of the small whorled pogonia, which was blooming at the time, Good News Network reports.

Marcus made the point that illegal collection and unintentional trampling by indifferent visitors place rare orchids in grave danger. Doubleday used the app's privacy settings to remove the public coordinates from his post to shield the pogonia's location from potential threats.

To ensure that this species has the best chance to thrive in Vermont's portion of its native range, the department will next work with the Winooski Valley Park District to search for small whorled pogonia on nearby conservation land and monitor the population.

Winooski Valley Park District

According to Popp, it is extremely fortunate that this small whorled pogonia population exists on land that is under the control of the Winooski Valley Park District because it emphasizes the value of protecting habitat.

He continued by saying that although it is rare for people to be fully aware of every species present when conserving a piece of land, it is well known that maintaining intact natural communities increases the likelihood of preserving Vermont's biodiversity, including both common and rare species.