On Land: Plants
Fringed star orchid
Epidendrum ciliare
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About
This stunning flower is one of many species of Epidendrum orchids. Among other common names, it’s also often called the “eyelash orchid” for its long, slim petals. These delicate, fragrant flowers are widely distributed across the Caribbean region and beyond, thriving in tropical environments. Fringed star orchids are epiphytes — in other words, they’re plants that live on other plants. Epiphytes anchor to high-up host plants as a way to access more sunlight in densely forested areas. They’re not parasites of their host-plants, though; epiphytes absorb water and nutrients from air, rain, and other nearby debris.
Fringed star orchids grow best in humidity, often clinging to trees in the light-dappled realms of cloud forests, but they can also be found nestled into rocky, moss-filled crevices across Saba. They’re fast growers, readily putting out new leaves and blooms, and these hardy orchids can flower multiple times across a single season.
The Epidendrum orchid species range from cream to brown to red and more, boasting a wide diversity of petal shapes in addition to color and patterning. On Saba alone, there are at least two other Epidendrum species: the brown epidendrum, and the fire-star orchid. The brown epidendrum has greenish-red, round-petaled flowers, while the fire-star orchid has vibrant, red-and-yellow flowers with pointed petals — both wholly different from the fringed star orchid’s lengthy, cream-or-green-colored petals.
Epidendrums are often pollinated by butterflies or hummingbirds, in addition to moths. Like many other orchid species, the fringed star orchid even expresses its scent at night, catering specifically to its moth-pollinator audience.
Header image by @yellobird (CC-BY-NC).
This species is:
Native
Why that matters:
Native species are those that evolved in the region naturally, without human influence. That means they’re specifically adapted to Saba’s habitat, and play a key role in island biodiversity. When we lose native species, gaps appear in the ecosystem. That leads to cascades of additional extinctions, and to the loss of the ecosystem services (food, clean air and water, flood and coastal protections, and more) that we humans rely on.
Credit: @emmmarine, iNaturalist (CC-BY-NC).
iNaturalist Observations
Where locals, researchers, and visitors have seen this species.
Google / Imagery © 2023 CNES / Airbus, Landsat / Copernicus, Maxar Technologies, U.S. Geological Survey, iNaturalist Map data @2023
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Ask a Scientist
Question: Is it common for moths to be important pollinators for orchids?
Answer: Butterflies and moths are the second most common pollinators of orchids (after bees and wasps). Orchids that are white, like the fringed star orchid, are typically pollinated by nocturnal animals like moths, and shine like beacons even in darkness.
Dr. Lauren Esposito
Curator of Arachnology and Islands 2030 Co-Director, California Academy of Sciences
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