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Why Orchid Conservation?

  • Orchidaceae is the world’s largest flowering plant family, with 28,000+ species in 736 genera.
  • The Orchid family represents a tremendous amount of biodiversity distributed across our planet’s many ecosystems - from the tropics to the high Arctic regions. Orchids outnumber bird species 2:1 and mammal species 4:1.
  • Orchids are the source of exciting biology in their own right, with much still unknown.
  • There is a need for more concerted efforts to conserve wild orchids via the establishment of plant, seed, and fungal banks representing their immense genetic diversity.
  • Orchids are important for the study of evolution as a whole, to understand speciation, fungal relationships, pollinator interactions and habitat adaptability.
  • Orchids play a vital role in their natural ecosystems and environmental health. Given their interdependence with specific trees, pollinators, soils, and mycorrhizal fungi, their presence is an indicator that the pieces of the environmental puzzle are in place. When orchids disappear from their historical habitats, it is an early sign that something is wrong. Orchids are a “canary in the coal mine”, and a sign that urgent attention is needed to address accelerated climate change and biodiversity loss.
Cypripedium guttatum
Showy Orchis Galearis spectabilis

Why North America?

  • North America (north of Mexico) has 200+ orchid species; over half are listed as endangered or threatened somewhere in their native range.
  • Prior to NAOCC, there was no centralized effort to understand or preserve native orchids of North America - most research and propagation work had focused on tropical species.
  • The pace of individualized efforts addressing North American orchids has been far too slow to assure the successful conservation of species.
  • Recognizing that the survival of orchids requires a focused, large scale and integrated effort that engages the public, The Smithsonian Institution and the United States Botanic Garden funded the establishment of the North American Orchid Conservation Center (NAOCC) to ensure the conservation of the native orchids in the U.S. and Canada.
  • NAOCC is the first continent-wide collaborative effort to conserve native orchids - offering a pioneering model which may be replicated world-wide.

What’s New?

Native orchids are at risk! NAOCC is committed to the survival of our native orchids through programs that focus on preservation, propagation and education. Your gift will help NAOCC grow a network of botanic gardens, public and private landowners, researchers, educators and citizens to meet this challenge.

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