The Chronicles Of Grant County

Orchid Street
Reserve

Orchids blooming in the Big Cypress National Preserve. (The photograph was produced by Heather Henkel and provided courtesy of the United States Geological Survey.)

Orchid Street is a roadway in the Village of Reserve in Catron County. The street was named after the orchid plant.

There are a number of varieties of orchids growing in the United States.

One of the newest varieties found to be growing in the U S was seen first in New Mexico less than 20 years ago.

The U S Forest Service issued a report that detailed how that new orchid variety was found to be growing on Federal ground.

In its report entitled "Rare Orchid New to the United States Doing Fine on the Lincoln National Forest," the U S Forest Service noted that "in August, 2004, botanist Marc Baker discovered an orchid on the Lincoln National Forest [in New Mexico] that he could not identify, so he asked his friend and orchid expert Ron Coleman for help."

"It was a year later before [Mr.] Coleman could find plants suitable for an accurate identification," this report continued. "He determined the orchid was Microthelys rubrocallosa, a close relative of the ladies'-tresses orchids in the genus Spiranthes. This orchid had never been seen in the U S. Previously, it was only known from a few collections in the Sierra Madre of Chihuahua, Mexico, some 270 miles to the south."

"Lincoln National Forest botanist Tyler Johnson has been visiting the orchid site regularly and reports that the small population of about 20 plants appears to be stable," noted this report. "It is difficult to monitor these plants because they are very small and appear above ground only as leaves, only as short-lived flower stalks, or not at all in dry years. [Mr. Johnson] has found flower stalks with swollen capsules indicating good seed production."

This report concluded by stating that "the plants are in a lightly forested area that has little disturbance, but did have a forest fire burn through the area in the last 10 years. The Lincoln National Forest will continue to monitor these interesting little plants and search for others at similar sites on the forest."

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