What was the surprising use of cowhorn orchids?
By Chelsie Vandaveer
June 6, 2005
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The cowhorn orchid (Cyrtopodium punctatum (L.) Lindley) grows in the intense sunlight of the cypress swamps in southern Florida. The seedling orchids take hold in the forks of branches, on old stumps, or in knotholes of bald cypress (Taxodium distichum). A dense mat of roots holds the orchid to the cypress supporting the horn-shaped pseudobulbs and long inflorescences.
Even though the cowhorn orchid was described by Linnaeus in 1759, the plant was not known to exist in Florida until 1867. The vast cypress swamps were little explored—sharp eroded limestone, water, sawgrass, mosquitoes, snakes, and alligators kept all but the most intrepid out of the area. Even today, only the most experienced hikers should venture into parts of the Big Cypress Swamp.
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the cowhorn became just another whim of 'orchid fever' and a source of ready cash. Huge plants were ripped out of the trees or, if the collectors couldn't reach the plants, the cypresses were cut down to obtain the specimens. In a matter of decades, the orchid was almost extirpated from south Florida. Not surprisingly, once removed from the wild, life for the cowhorn was often short.
Long before orchid collectors discovered this source of cash, Native Americans had a use for the plant. The pseudobulbs are filled with a pulp that contains a sticky carbohydrate, mucilage. Native Americans and early settlers extracted the mucilage for use as a glue.
The Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants, website of the Institute for Systematic Botany, University of South Florida has additional photographs of the cowhorn. To view the photos, click on the link:
http://www.plantatlas.usf.edu/main.asp?plantID=3730
Click on the Images tab and on the thumbnails to enlarge the images. Note the large specimen in a dead cypress taken by Roger Hammer.
(Compiled from: The Native Orchids of Florida, Carlyle A. Luer, 1st ed., NY Botanical Garden, 1972 and "The Seriously Depleted Cowhorn Orchid, Cyrtopodium punctatum, Endangered in Florida", K.R. Langdon, Nematology Circular 74 (Botany 13), Division of Plant Industry, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, April 1981.)
killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~
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