Foo - What's this flower?

http://awcg.com/Allen/RandomImages/UnknownPlant.jpg

East Hill? Do you know?
It has no foliage, just this stalk of spiral flowers.

For those that don't know, I'm in Northern Georgia.

BOOM! (http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.sbs.utexas.edu/bio406d/images/pics/orc/spiranthes.lacera.infl2.JPG&imgrefurl=http://www.sbs.utexas.edu/bio406d/images/pics/orc/spiranthes_lacera.htm&h=640&w=480&sz=60&hl=en&start=8&um=1&usg=__d1fI9LHtPelu9F-XiMrdwxqXkd4=&tbnid=Fcso3bpYq7Et_M:&tbnh=137&tbnw=103&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dspiral%2Bflower%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DN)

You are the man, thank you!

You are the man, thank you!

I googled, 'spiral-white flower' and this was on page two. I don't want anybody here thinking I know too much about flowers...:D

Google. *flicks self in forehead*

I have never seen that before. Cool find Allen. Does it grow naturally around here?

I have never seen that before. Cool find Allen. Does it grow naturally around here?

I've seen 10 or 15 here at the farm this year. I found this one in the transition zone between woods and pasture.

kind of reminds me of a rattlers tail.

Mother Nature is amazing.

kind of reminds me of a rattlers tail.

Much better common name than its real one, the Northern Slender Ladies' Tresses, which is just awkward.

That is a freaking pointy flower.

Mother Nature is amazing.

And orchids are quite the showcase of that:

"The Royal Botanical Gardens of Kew list 880 genera and nearly 22,000 accepted species, but the exact number is unknown (perhaps as many as 25,000)[3] because of taxonomic disputes. The number of orchid species equals about four times the number of mammal species...About 800 new orchid species are added each year."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orchid

Even more impressive when you consider that orchids are categorized at the family level, while mammals are an entire class. Of course, taxonomy is a little imprecise, but you get the picture.

(Kingdom > phylum > class > order > family > genus > species for those who forgot).

That's pretty! and of the orchid:love: family!

In N GA you should definitely have this:

Amazon.com: Newcomb's Wildflower Guide: Lawrence Newcomb: Books

(I think it bottoms out in TN but should work at least through all the mtns and it's definitely my favorite plant field guide of all)

(woah, weird link abbreviation there)

ps-> tree of life gave up rather than tackle the orchids:

http://www.tolweb.org/Asparagales/21333

Google. *flicks self in forehead*

Hey that's MY job. :mad:

I'm still waiting for that arm bar.

And orchids are quite the showcase of that:

"The Royal Botanical Gardens of Kew list 880 genera and nearly 22,000 accepted species, but the exact number is unknown (perhaps as many as 25,000)[3] because of taxonomic disputes. The number of orchid species equals about four times the number of mammal species...About 800 new orchid species are added each year."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orchid

Even more impressive when you consider that orchids are categorized at the family level, while mammals are an entire class. Of course, taxonomy is a little imprecise, but you get the picture.

(Kingdom > phylum > class > order > family > genus > species for those who forgot).

I visited the rain forests in Ecuador many moons ago. There was a guy we were going to visit that people referred to as "the orchid guy". Some botanical researcher that focused only on orchids. They told me he had discovered a species of orchid so tiny you needed a magnifying glass to see it properly, and that he had also discovered a glow in the dark variety. I don't know if that was true or not, and sadly I didn't get to find out as I never got a chance to visit him. But having seen the things I saw there in the fringe of the Amazon I really don't doubt they were possible.

I visited the rain forests in Ecuador many moons ago. There was a guy we were going to visit that people referred to as "the orchid guy". Some botanical researcher that focused only on orchids. They told me he had discovered a species of orchid so tiny you needed a magnifying glass to see it properly, and that he had also discovered a glow in the dark variety. I don't know if that was true or not, and sadly I didn't get to find out as I never got a chance to visit him. But having seen the things I saw there in the fringe of the Amazon I really don't doubt they were possible.

I know of one that is a chimera (firefly genes were grafted into it).
As yet I think it is unnamed.

http://awcg.com/Allen/RandomImages/Bioluminescent.gif

http://awcg.com/Allen/RandomImages/Bioluminescent-2.gif

I think there's a fungus that grows in the woods that glows at night. If memmory serves me correctly its called firefox.

I think there's a fungus that grows in the woods that glows at night. If memmory serves me correctly its called firefox.

Wasn't there a series of books about Appalachia named after that fungus?

Wasn't there a series of books about Appalachia named after that fungus?

Yes. Well, the books/program are Firefox, the fungus is Foxfire. There is a Foxfire Museum in Rabun County GA, the program is/was run out of a private school there, was never sure if the school was for rich kids boarding away from their Atlanta homes, or poor kids bussed out there.

Boy try to google 'foxfire' and get something not to do w/ web browsers, not easy to do.

Ah, google = wrong source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxfire_books has a bit of the story plus the link back to the motherlode:

http://www.foxfire.org/