World's First Night-flowering Orchid Found    [02-12-2011] Recently, a Dutch botanist named Ed de Vogel discovered a very rare orchid. He found a special orchid on New Britain Island, located off the northeast coast of Papua New Guinea. The plant is a nocturnal orchid. This means that unlike other flowers, the orchid consistently opens after dark and closes in the morning. In fact, it is the first orchid to flower at night! The orchid’s flowers stay open for just one night. It is very hard to find flowers that open only at night. Many orchids are pollinated by moths and their flowers remain open only during the day. However, the night-flowering orchid is pollinated by nocturnal insects such as midges. The plant species belongs to a group of flowers, which are known for their unique look. The flowers look similar to leggy insects, small hairy spiders, or even sea animals. “It was quite remarkable to find a night-flowering orchid, after so many years of orchid research. It was so unexpected because there are so many species of orchids and not one was known to be pollinated at night,” said Vogel. “This is another reminder that surprising discoveries can still be made. Therefore, we need to protect our environment to discover new species,” he added. Let’s preserve our environment well to see many more new plants and animals!     출처: 어린이 영자신문 키즈타임즈 (www.kidstimes.net)