Hi Everyone,

Slightly different to my regular form of blog entry, normally my posts are very diverse showin all forms of Malagasy fauna and flora. However, this tim I will be looking at one particular topic, the species of Orchids that can be found upon the islands.

The Orchidaceae family, along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering plants on the planet with Orchidaceae having approximately 27,800 currently accepted species. Like with most of Madagascar’s fauna and flora species, it is home to nearly one thousand different species of orchids—which make up nearly ten percent of the island’s flora—with nearly 900 of them completely endemic. Most of them are known only from few odd specimens or appear to have restricted distributions with small populations. Assessments organised by conservation projects suggest that as many as 70 percent of species are threatened with extinction, but there is insufficient data to make accurate assessments.

Yet again, like the rest of the Island’s wildlife, Orchids are found in almost every habitat on the island, from the mountains to the coasts having adapted to even the harshest conditions.

 

© 2015 – The photographs and information written is copyrighted by Joshua Ralph of MantellaMan Conservation.