Why does its flower seem to float?

The flower stalk is thin and hard to see

Ghost Orchid Quiz: Florida's Leafless Floating Flower

This ghost orchid quiz wades into the cypress swamps of southern Florida in search of a legendary flower. Play 10 interactive questions on a leafless orchid that makes food in green roots, clinging to tree bark, a white flower that seems to float in the air, long-tongued sphinx moth pollinators, Fakahatchee Strand, the super ghost orchid and The Orchid Thief.

Start Ghost Orchid Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Place
Where does the ghost orchid grow in the US?
Leaves
What does the ghost orchid lack?
Roots
How does it make food?
Grip
Where does it grow?
Float
Why does its flower seem to float?
Color
What color is the flower?
Pollinator
Which insects pollinate it?
Swamp
Which Florida preserve is famous for ghost orchids?
Super
Where is the super ghost orchid that blooms many flowers?
Book
Which book made the ghost orchid famous?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Where does the ghost orchid grow in the US?
Answer: Southern Florida
It also grows in Cuba.
Q2: What does the ghost orchid lack?
Answer: Leaves
It is leafless most of its life.
Q3: How does it make food?
Answer: With green roots that photosynthesize
Roots cling to bark.
Q4: Where does it grow?
Answer: On tree trunks
It is an epiphyte.
Q5: Why does its flower seem to float?
Answer: The flower stalk is thin and hard to see
Long petals add to the effect.
Q6: What color is the flower?
Answer: White
It glows in the shade.
Q7: Which insects pollinate it?
Answer: Long-tongued sphinx moths
Nectar sits deep in a spur.
Q8: Which Florida preserve is famous for ghost orchids?
Answer: Fakahatchee Strand
It is a cypress swamp.
Q9: Where is the super ghost orchid that blooms many flowers?
Answer: Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary
It grows high on a cypress.
Q10: Which book made the ghost orchid famous?
Answer: The Orchid Thief
Susan Orlean wrote it.

A Flower That Floats in the Swamp

The ghost orchid grows in the cypress swamps of southern Florida and in Cuba. For most of its life it has no leaves. Instead, it makes food with green roots that photosynthesize, clinging tightly to tree trunks as an epiphyte.

When it blooms, a white flower with long trailing petals appears on a thin, nearly invisible stalk, so it seems to float in the air. Nectar sits deep in a long spur, and long-tongued sphinx moths pollinate it at night. Fakahatchee Strand Preserve is famous for ghost orchids.

A super ghost orchid at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, growing high on a cypress, produces many flowers. Susan Orlean's book The Orchid Thief, about a man arrested for taking orchids from the swamp, made the flower famous and inspired the film Adaptation. Poaching and habitat loss threaten wild plants.

What This Quiz Teaches

Plant fans will enjoy these questions.

Where it grows
How it makes food
Why it seems to float
Who pollinates it
How it became famous

Did You Know?

Blooms appear in summer.
Wild plants are rarely seen up close.
Scientists track plants by tags.
Swamp walks require wading.
Its seeds need fungi to sprout.