Orchids

Last week (well, 9 days ago), we headed north to the Crookston area to survey the Western Prairie Fringed Orchid (Platanthera praeclara).
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Gretel is showing everyone what to look for on the plant here.

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Katherine looks over the prairie

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An ant dangles on a thread of spider silk, threatened by the dangerous milkweed

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Here’s what we were actually looking for; the WPFO itself. We found over 1000 plants, way more than last year. All in all, a good day.