Paphiopedilum ID help needed.

[hyun007]

Originally Posted by dounoharm

hyun, sure there are folk that grow the pink cyp and sell it....they are plants that were collected years ago or grown from seed....but there is NO WHERE, NO WHERE where you can see vast numbers of them in the wild....like the buffalo, they are gone....there are a few hidden places that people know of a few, but nothing like I once saw as a child....like the tiger, like the elephant, like our buffalo and wild horses....they are gone. a thing of the past. but, remember, they take them out of the wild TO SELL THEM! if no one buys them, then there is not need to collect them, right? and there is enough stock already in the big conservatories to hold on to the genes....WE MUST ALL DO OUR PART TO PROTECT OUR ENVIRONMENT, OUR EARTH! its all we have, my friend.....

For the pink orchids, how long ago when it was gone? I think in America, people are more aware about convservation now. Maybe it is possible to start a group and with permission of the authority to reintroduce those plants back. Of course you need to let the community aware of it and hence then people will take part to protect it than stealing it.

[Orchid Whisperer]

Originally Posted by hyun007

For the pink orchids, how long ago when it was gone? I think in America, people are more aware about convservation now. Maybe it is possible to start a group and with permission of the authority to reintroduce those plants back. Of course you need to let the community aware of it and hence then people will take part to protect it than stealing it.

A few years ago, the last known wild specimen of one species of Cypripedium in the United Kingdom had to be placed under 24 hour a day armed guard. Britain's rarest flower: Lady Slipper orchid gets police protection | Daily Mail Online Why? Because poachers had removed every other known specimen from the wild. As soon as populations were discovered, they were 100% stolen by poachers. Making the community aware of populations of wild orchids just aids the poachers.

[hyun007]

Originally Posted by Orchid Whisperer

A few years ago, the last known wild specimen of one species of Cypripedium in the United Kingdom had to be placed under 24 hour a day armed guard. Britain's rarest flower: Lady Slipper orchid gets police protection | Daily Mail Online Why? Because poachers had removed every other known specimen from the wild. As soon as populations were discovered, they were 100% stolen by poachers. Making the community aware of populations of wild orchids just aids the poachers.

I read about this, it seem to be over collected in UK and France but it is in abundance in Austria. The reintroduction population is actually starting to do well. They are able to use the symbiotic fungus needed.

Rotchschild has been reintroduced back into Mount Kinabalu after it was hunt to near extinction but it is still critically endangered.

There will always be poachers. With the help of a big community, the chance for the plants to survice is actually higher.