Date: Tue, 04 Apr 2000 17:07:53 -0400 From: Prem Subrahmanyam <prems@noblestar.net> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg1011$foo@default> Subject: Re: selling wild S. flava...
At 02:55 AM 4/3/2000 -0700, William M. Gorum, Jr. wrote:
>
>RARE - Pitcher Plants - Carnivorous Item #293597973
>
>Hey All....
>
>Found this on www.ebay.com Type in the above item number to look at
>the posting. Seems like someone is collecting wild S. flavas and
>auctioning them on ebay. I understand them to say that they're doing
>this to save the plants who are threatened by habitat destruction.
>Opinions?
>
This is, unfortunately, a common occurrence in Florida, one of the areas
where S. flava is common. Roadside construction and other development
do threaten plants that grow there. There are three things to note here:
1. S. flava is one of the only Sarracenia not listed on Florida's
endangered species list at all (as threatened, commercially exploited,
or endangered), but is still protected by state laws regarding
carnivorous plants. Hence, it is common enough to escape any form of
endangered status, but falls under protection due to its uniqueness.
2. the roadsides where many carnies now grow are an artificially amenable
environment. In the wild, the carnies tend to grow in widely scattered
wet meadows within pine forests. The roadsides end up duplicating this
environment in continuous strips, allowing many carnies to establish
themselves in numbers not seen in the woods even near the roadsides where
they grow.
3. the state of FL, even though it protects orchids and carnies from
private collectors, makes no attempt to rescue plants that are under
threat of destruction either from commercial development, or
state-funded development. Of far more concern than the carnies in
northern FL are the epiphytic orchids in central and southern FL, which
are under constant pressure from development. I've witnessed acres of
pristine forests where numerous orchids grew leveled to make room for
new townhouses...all that's left of the many orchids that I found
growing there before was a pile of wood-chips 30 feet high.
My opinion...kudos to this guy for rescuing these plants...offering them
for auction is a bit of a strange way to ensure their safety, though. I
would've either transplanted them to a more suitable habitat, or just
kept a number in private cultivation, using them as breeder plants to raise
new generations from seed.
But...to each his own.
--> Prem
===================================================================
Prem Subrahmanyam <prems@noblestar.net> or <prems@nettally.com>
- Animator, programmer, and orchid and fossil nut extraordinaire...
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"We in our foolishness thought we were wise
He played the fool and He opened our eyes
We in our weakness believed we were strong
He became nothing to show we were wrong."
"God's Own Fool" - Michael Card
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