Filled with splashes of color amidst a wash of green, life hangs in a delicate balance inside the Orchid Greenhouse located on the south fringe of Ball State's Christy Woods — especially for the rare and endangered plants that now call Muncie home.
While many orchids are donated legally from across the nation and across the world, some found a second home in east central Indiana after they were recovered from orchid smugglers looking to cash-in on the world's rarest and most threatened plants.
Smugglers target foreign plants because of their beauty, rarity and high price tag, as some can sell for hundreds of dollars.
In 2006, a senior British scientist was caught trying to smuggle 100 rare orchid species from Malaysia to sell to collectors. These plant hunters pose a serious threat to the survival of many plant species. That's why organizations such as the Conservation on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora work to stop orchid smugglers by providing orphaned orchids with homes. One refuge is Ball State's collection, one of 63 orchid rescue centers in the country.
"People like to horde things and be the only one to have it on that corner of the market," Cheryl LeBlanc, Ball State's only orchid research technician, said. "The idea behind CITES is to protect nature resources, especially from the country of origin."
LeBlanc has been working at the orchid greenhouse for 18 years and is responsible for maintaining the fragile environment within the building's glass walls. Inside the 1,400-square foot facility, there are three distinct environments intended to mimic the conditions needed for certain species of orchids to survive. Droning fans, trickling water systems, thermometers and humidity gauges are the lifelines for the facility's 1,900 orchids — the most of any university-owned orchid greenhouse in the nation. Only private collections, such as the Smithsonian Institute's, are larger.
"It's a feel-good kind of place," said LeBlanc, who has been captivated by orchids since she was 9 . "I've made the building look and feel like a tropical environment, mostly so it just doesn't feel like rows and rows of plants, but rather how the orchid's natural environment would be like."
Some orchids in the greenhouse have been recovered from smugglers in U.S. ports and have experienced grueling conditions while waiting for a home. Some sit for days on shipping docks and begin to wither because they were ripped from their natural habitat and placed in unsuitable foreign conditions. That's where LeBlanc steps in. But sometimes, it's too late.
"I've lost a lot [of plants]," she said. "A lot of the rescue things come in, and there's nothing we can do for them. I have had to edge them past that half-dead stage."
But before LeBlanc can diagnose how to help the orphaned plants, she must identify the orchid — a task that can prove daunting, depending on the size of the plant's colony.
"There are thousands of different kids of species. It's sometimes hard to find the single group where you start," she said. "If there [are] 4,000 species of one particular group, so where do you start? My efforts are to photo-document and take measurements and use that information to associate the plant with a particular group."
Once identified, LeBlanc must constantly monitor the conditions inside the greenhouse to ensure that the orchids are receiving the proper temperature, humidity, airflow, water quality, water temperature and fertilizer. If one element isn't perfect, that could mean disaster for the plants.
"I've had water temperature problems this year, and I lost 150 plants," she said. "A couple years ago, I lost hundreds of plants to a water quality issue — things that were beyond my control that really require better equipment."
The collection was established in 1971 when W.O. and Goldie Wheeler donated a collection of local orchids. Since then, the collection has grown into a throng of foliage that covers nearly every corner of the greenhouse. While the collection is expanding by 50 to 100 plants yearly, the size of the greenhouse remains the same. LeBlanc said the building is also starting to show its age.
"Failures happen a lot," she said. "This building is almost 40 years old. It's held together with band-aids. It's a great collection, but it really needs a little bit of help."
While the facility is a part of Ball State's BOLD campaign for renovations, donations are needed in order to update the facilities. LeBlanc said the building upgrades are necessary because the orchid greenhouse provides a glimpse of the kind of diversity nature has to offer, especially for rare or endangered plants threatened by rainforest deforestation.
"Hopefully people can get a glimmer of nature's diversity," she said. "You could view it simply as a living collection with the potential for species conservation and reintroducing plants into the wild when the rainforest destruction stops or slows. We're basically holding onto them for conservation, as a last refuge."
LeBlanc said she hopes to expand the collection further if she receives enough donations. She said the collection is just a glimpse of nature's wonders.
"This is a little hint to say that there's a little more out there than just your backyard," she said. "Remember, there's a big blue planet out there."
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
