It Took a Decade, Two Sniffer Dogs, and a Lot of Mud to Protect This Orchid

Researchers plant orchids at Canelo Hills Cienega Preserve in Arizona in April.Cassidy Araiza via High Country News Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily. This story was originally published by High Country News and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Arizona’s rarest orchid, when not in bloom, resembles a blade of grass. It vanishes easily in the lush greenery of the Canelo Hills Cienega Preserve—even to the eyes of the botanists who plant it. On a mild April morning, after a decade of preparation, a group of scientists gathered at a desert wetland cradled in southern Arizona’s hills to reintroduce a federally endangered orchid.

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