Second stop: Orchids (and a few other flowers)

Ecuador is considered to have, by far, the highest biodiversity of animal and plant species in the world by surface area, being ranked #5 of the most biodiverse countries.

Over 17,000 species of plants have been classified and described in this country, where 4235 species are orchids. Just about every fourth species among the various plants in primary habitats, is an orchid. Ecuador has the largest amount of orchid species ever recorded -16% of the world’s total-.

Still, there are still many other orchids awaiting official recognition, promising as many as 1,000 new species. Approximately 35% of Ecuadorian orchid species are endemic to the region. It takes a trained eye to recognize an orchid in the wild. As many of them are so small, it takes a magnifying glass to see the flowers.

(quoted from http://www.woc22.com/)


Just for the fun of it, I think I'll number these in case anybody wants to vote for their favorite flower picture.  :-)

1

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4

Sorry for not giving this one a number.  I know it would be the automatic winner!  ;-)  

Thanks for being such a good sport, Mom!  

5

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 21

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25

There she is again!  There must have been more than one shooter on the scene.  :-)  

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52

Only 52 to choose from...That should be easy!  

If you're an orchid aficionado, the World Orchid Conference will be held right here in Guayaquil on November 8-12, 2017.  Actually, if you come at that time, you might as well join us at convention.  :-)