Phragmipedium Kovachii

[MJSK]

I have just read "The Scent of Scandal; Greed, Betrayal, and the World's Most Beautiful Orchid" followed by Glen Decker's article in the November 2007 issue of AOS's Orchids magazine. I have never seen a Phrag. Kovachii in person, just photos and it seems to be an incredible flower.

"The Scent of Scandal" fully documents how this orchid was 'found' and named. However, the flower is so incredible, I am wondering if it has been seen before? After reading the book and article I got to thinking whether anyone had written about this plant before - over the last 150 years during which time so many orchid hunters combed forests looking for them. Could it be a newly developed species or just over looked after all these years of orchid hunting.

Does anyone here know more about this orchid?

[MJSK]

Should I be posting this question in the Phragmipedium section as well?

[Magnus A]

I would say that the flower is so special that it is not an hybrid between known species and that evoloution need ALOT longer time than 150 years!
This mean that no orchid hunters have passed this small area during the time (100-200years) P kovachi has been in flower !
I do not think they have ignore it as the plant definetly look like a Phragmipedium!

/M

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

If you're asking whether there's the possibility of a scandal involving Phrag kovachii actually being a man-made hybrid, I'd have to concur with Magnus A that Phrag kovachii is the real deal, and it is a species.

All the Phrag kovachii photos I've seen does indeed have some variation in them, but they are normal variations within a species! Different variants of Phrag kovachii despite its morphological variations, are still recognizable as Phrag kovachii.

With the advent of DNA testing, there is a good shot at finding out whether Phrag kovachii truly is a species unique unto itself, or a man-made hybrid scam.

There is no question that Phrag kovachii is a species.


As to the issue of who discovered this plant first, I have no idea. You gotta remember, the person who formally introduces the plant to science is not necessarily always the first person to have seen it in the wild! This has been the case with multiple plants and animals throughout history!!! People who do not know a lick of science may have known of this plant's existence for a very long time already, they probably just thought nothing of it. Prior to Phrag kovachii making a big splash in the orchid community and the orchid hobby market (yes, "market" as in having a relationship to business), the people who have known of its existence for decades or even hundreds of years, may have just admired it and thought it's a beautiful flower and passed on by.

When people assigned a ridiculous amount of worth to the plant, that's when people got greedy and thought only about how to line their own pockets with money for whatever reasons they have.

It's the principle of controlling supply and demand. It is also the principle of assigning worth to an object.

Of course, it's a "smoke and mirrors" game. That's capitalism at its finest. Perception is the best liar on the planet!


I'm also going to boil the whole "scientist discovering the plant first" thing down to this - it's a popularity contest amongst plant dorks - there I said it. 'Cause this kinda stuff boosts the ego big time.

[Magnus A]

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

I'm also going to boil the whole "scientist discovering the plant first" thing down to this - it's a popularity contest amongst plant dorks - there I said it. 'Cause this kinda stuff boosts the ego big time.

I could not formulate it better myself! And I have been a scentist myself for 12 years, though in another field, and seen the self boasting everywere!

[camille1585]

Phrag kovachii's story is so sad... Their sites are getting wiped out as quickly as they are being discovered. All because of greedy humans.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Honestly, if Peruflora was in fact serious about orchid conservation in the first place, they never should have set the price of this orchid as high as they did.

IF the prices dropped down to $25 or $35 each, and there were tons of them flying around, wild populations of Phrag kovachii may still have a chance to be saved.

Otherwise, as long as the prices stay high regardless of the supply, we all can kiss Phrag kovachii goodbye in the wild. They'll just go out with the Do Do's - kinda, sorta.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

What Peruflora did was genius marketing-wise and business-wise.

Ethically speaking, the plan was poorly conceived.

Just the fact that so many wild populations of Phrag kovachii had been stripped almost clean, is a very good indicator that the person who claimed to have "discovered it first", was indeed, not the first person to have known of this plant's existence. It provides strong evidence for and gives credence to the fact that a lot of people have known about this plant for a long time already PRIOR to Kovach's claims. Quite frankly, the people who "discovered Phrag kovachii first" were the "nondescript" farmers, herders, or villagers of the area of Peru, (those who were very familiar with the lay of the land before Kovach entered the picture), where the orchids are found.

[Magnus A]

Why should a orchid grower/supplier care about a wild population? It is the state you should blame that gave a single grower monopoly to make money out of a thought after specie. EVERYONE knows that a commersial company care shit about conservation in the wild as long as they can earn money!

[camille1585]

From what I read, and if i remember correctly, it was a local farmer that had discovered it, but don't know how long before the 'official' discovery.