Florida’s Native Orchids: A Visual History

Once coveted for their beauty and rarity, Florida’s native orchids have a long and complicated history rooted in desire, displacement, and more recently, renewal.

At the height of the Victorian era, orchids were objects of obsession. Collectors, hobbyists, and botanists alike were swept up in what came to be known as orchid mania, a frenzy that drove explorers deep into the wilds of tropical regions around the world in search of the rarest blooms. Species were taken from their native habitats by the thousands, destined for drawing rooms, private greenhouses, and botanical exhibitions. This period of romanticized botanical conquest left a deep ecological scar. Entire populations of orchids disappeared from South Florida’s hammocks, wetlands, and coastal forests, some reduced to only a handful of sightings per year.

This is not just a story of loss, it is also one of restoration.

Today, conservationists, scientists, and local communities are working to bring these species back. Through the work of organizations like the Million Orchid Project, thousands of native orchids are being propagated in laboratories and reintroduced to the wild, helping to rebuild delicate ecological relationships and restore a vital part of Florida’s botanical heritage.

At Botanico Exteriors, this story inspired the launch of our Native Orchid Correspondence Sets. Each set features original artwork celebrating species native to South Florida, designed and printed locally using FSC-certified, 80% recycled paper and 100% recycled envelopes. Fifteen percent of proceeds from each set supports the Million Orchid Project and its efforts to repopulate native orchids in public landscapes, schoolyards, and urban wilds.

Our hope is that these designs invite reflection of the beauty of Florida’s orchids and our shared responsibility of protecting them.