My love for plants started at a young age with orchids. Growing up, I would spend a lot of time with my great aunt Frieda who grew all kinds of orchids. She had the classic Phalaenopsis, the lush Cymbidiums, and dainty Epidendrums. She had a kitchen table that was encased in 180 degrees of floor to ceiling windows that allowed for her “beauties,” as she would call them, to bloom throughout the year. My love for orchids grew when we took a family vacation to Costa Rica when I was 12. This is when I learned the national flower of Costa Rica is the purple Guaria Morada orchid. I would attempt scientific drawings of orchids in my spare time and research how each unique orchid shape determines an exclusive relationship with their pollinator (be it a moth, bee, butterfly, gnat, etc.).
Everything about orchids fascinated me. Their specific bloom times could dictate pollination success. Some only bloom after specific temperature cues for the duration of a single night. My love for orchids soon spilled over into, not only a love for horticulture and California native plants, but a thirst to understand the bigger picture of ecosystem ecology, biodiversity, and conservation. Now I keep a garden with a mix of California native plants, fruit trees, herbs, and ornamentals. One of my “beauties” is a Cereus night blooming cactus, also known as the Queen of the Night. It only blooms once from about 9 PM until the first light of day. The fragrance is intoxicating, and it had me Googling “Queen of the Night perfume” and “Cereus essence lotion.” I soon realized a longing for a product like this could have a serious impact on a species longevity and the ecosystem where the plant originates.
Although orchids and Cereus are ornamental house plants here in southern California, their survival is sometimes threatened in their native locales. Orchids come from many places in the world, including Mexico, Turkey, Australia, the Himalayas, and the Philippines. There are seven genera of Cereus night blooming cactus, originating from the deserts of the southwest United States and most of Mexico. Plant poaching, culinary, and commercial demand has a growing impact on native plant species abundance and biodiversity. Although vanilla is the most commonly used culinary orchid, world demand is satiated with hand-pollinated farming techniques. This farming practice limits threats to wild vanilla orchids and ecosystems, but many other species of plants are not so lucky. The Salep genus of orchid is harvested from the wild in Greece to produce a delicacy-like drink. Harvesting the tubers of Salep destroys the entire orchid plant and often disrupts the orchids’ resident ecosystem. This is just one example of how the recent demand for naturally sourced products is putting a huge strain on ecosystems world-wide.
Poaching is typically associated with large animals’ tusks and hides, but plants have become a new object of affection for collectors. The increase in demand for trendy succulents, cactus, and house plants has had a tangible impact on ecosystems in our own backyard. Plant poaching has also become a serious issue for carnivorous plants in Australia, the saguaro cactus from the Sonoran Desert, and, even more locally, Dudleya (live-forever) species from the wild California coastline. One solution to the plant poaching is to legislate tougher laws and create higher penalties for those found in violation. The California Native Plant Society recently reported a win for a unanimous vote by the California Assembly to pass AB 223. If signed by the Senate and the Governor, this assembly bill would allow criminal punishment up to six months in jail for poaching live-forevers from the wild. Education and outreach are other ways to bring attention to these global trade, supply chain, and often black-market issues. Check out the links below to learn more about your role in conserving wild beauties:
https://www.indefenseofplants.com/podcast/tag/orchid+poaching
Shelley Lawrence, Biologist