Endangered Plant Research

A service botanist looks after an endangered Western Prairie Fringed Orchid in Nebraska. Fringed orchids are found in tallgrass prairies, most often in moist habitats or sedge meadows, and require direct sunlight for growth. They persist in areas disturbed by light grazing, burning, or mowing. Western Prairie Fringed Orchids are known from northeastern Oklahoma, as well as locations in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota. The greatest threat to the species is conversion of tallgrass prairie to other land uses.