Volunteers hunt through dirt in cold shed to save Australia's rarest orchids
Dozens of volunteers tipped pot plants onto a white plastic table in a small green shed about an hour out of Melbourne, rummaging through dirt with freezing fingers to find the root tubers of one of Australia's rarest wild orchids. Alex McLachlan pulled up roots to show the group how to spot next year's tuber. The purple flowers pushed up on thin stems, their musky scent growing stronger as the shed warmed. McLachlan had been there since early morning, preparing plants that had taken much longer than that to reach this stage.
Saving Australia's endangered orchids requires years of work, dozens of volunteers, picky pollinators and a special fungus. People drive from all over the country to do it.
Source: Army of volunteers races to save one of Australia's rarest orchids (abc.net.au). Spotted via Good News Network.
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