Perhaps many hobbyists assume that professional botanists are also
private plant collectors, and that their profession augments their
hobby? It's been my observation that surprisingly few botanists
maintain significant hobby collections. If a researcher or conservationist
also maintains a personal collection of the same plants they are researching
or conserving, this could constitute at conflict of interest, especially
if the plants are rare. Most of the botanists I can associate with plant
collections are actually working with public collections (botanical
gardens or university greenhouses).
Michael Chamberland