The Plant Detective

Many of you may know my friend Steve McKee. In fact, a good number of you may know him from his now-nearly-famous, "The Plant Detective" program, most recently seen at the Midwest Native Plant Symposium. Steve originally created the clever program for his friends in the Mohican Native Plant Society, and it seems to have achieved a life of its own. The main theme involves the process of searching for missing plants. It even includes a "Most Wanted" plant.

Today was a big day for the Plant Detective, Steve McKee. He finally solved the case and found his most wanted plant. This plant had been collected in Richland County, once in 1892- and has been missing ever since.

Purple Fringed Orchid, Platanthera psycodes is such a lovely plant, it would not easily be overlooked. However, it has the nasty habitat of living deep within swamps, where few people dare the July heat, humidity and mosquitoes. Unless, those people might also be interested in dragonflies!

The plant paparazzi moves in. Gary Kennedy gets the GPS coordinates as Judy Semroc takes documentary photos. What started out as a dragonfly outing ended up as a celebration for our friend's good fortune and excellent find.

The Plant Detective, Steve McKee... always gets his orchid.