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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.
  • More concerted efforts are needed to conserve wild orchids through the creation 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.
Cypripedium guttatum
© Ben Rostron
  • Orchids play a vital role in their natural ecosystems and environmental health through their interdependence with specific trees, pollinators, soils, and mycorrhizal fungi. Their presence indicates that the pieces of the environmental puzzle are in place. When orchids disappear from historical habitats, it is an early warning sign that something is wrong. Orchids are a “canary in the coal mine” - a sign that urgent attention is needed to address accelerated climate change and biodiversity loss.
Showy Orchis Galearis spectabilis
© David Arbour

Why North America?

  • North America (north of Mexico) has 230+ orchid species. Over half are listed as endangered or threatened somewhere in their native range.
  • Before NAOCC, there was no centralized effort to understand or preserve all the 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.
  • Orchid survival requires a focused, large scale, integrated approach with public engagement, so the Smithsonian Institution, with the help of the United States Botanic Garden, established NAOCC to ensure native orchid conservation in the U.S. and Canada.
  • NAOCC is the first continental-scale collaborative network to conserve native orchids - a pioneering model which may be replicated world-wide.

What’s New?

December 23, 2025
Saving Arizona’s Rarest Orchid: The Canelo Hills Ladies’ Tresses – A Collaboration with the Desert Botanical Garden Read More
December 30, 2025
NAOCC’s 2025 at a Glance Read More
November 5, 2025
Coming Soon! Native Orchids of the United States and Canada – A Field Guide Read More

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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© Hal Horwitz

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Interested in collaborating with NAOCC?

Melissa McCormickJulianne McGuinness

North American Orchid Conservation Center (NAOCC)
c/o Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
647 Contees Wharf Road
Edgewater, MD 21037-0028

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