Scientists transplant soil fungi in race to save the world’s rthreatened orchids

Display at Chelsea flower show highlights work in UK and US to bring orchid habitats back to health

Scientists are racing against the clock to save the world’s orchids by discovering the soil fungi they need to thrive, breeding them and then, in a first for conservation, transplanting them into orchid habitats.

Among the showy blooms at Chelsea flower show this week was a moss-covered exhibit, sprouting from which were the types of rare, native flowers one does not normally see at horticultural exhibits.