Was written up in the latest Lankersteriana by Pemberton,Collins and Koptur.
They note the outer range in Eulophia graminea's habitat is Okinawa (which
they don't mention in the newspaper article) but which is at the same
latitude as Miami Fl. They also note that 2 new bees have naturalized and
are inhabiting a new range in Florida, one of which is an 'oil collecting'
bee. They also say the seed pod ripens and dehisces rapidly, even while the
inflorescence is still in flower (facilitates seed spread).

Personally I don't find the flower to be intriguing enough to be offered for
sale, no matter what the article says about eBay sales. It just ain't
pretty enough. [ducks for cover] I think passive import, via the
military?, is more likely. Someone's wife wanted a plant from home, and
here you are.

Sometime ago there were letters in 'Taxon' about reversing Pharg kovachii's
name back to Phrag peruvianum. In the response to that proposal someone
mentioned that a plant that's always, simply always, found in Mexico and
Central America had to keep a single exemplar found in Madagascar in the
records even though everyone knows some Portuguese sailor imported it to
Madagascar way back at the dawn of time. I'm sure some sort of similar
import of Eulophia graminea happened here.

Whether Eulophia graminea'll become the new kudzu is the interesting
question. It seems to have found a pollinator in the new bees. Half the
battle.

K Barrett

"Diana Kulaga" wrote in message
. ..
Cool. It likes cypress mulch.

Article he

http://www.miamiherald.com/457/story/594330.html

Photos he

http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.as...n_id=242321178

Diana