The Gold of Kinabalu: orchid treasure on the edge of extinction

Ruthless hunters track their prey around the globe, snatching stunning individuals from their homes before they can even be named.

The beauties only surface in the shadiest of nurseries and high prices for their lives are agreed under the counter by hungry-eyed collectors.

This is not the plot from a harrowing tale of people smuggling but the fate of rare and highly prized orchids.

The plants have inspired frenzied collection since the 18th century with their lustrous blooms and incredible variety.

Now, scientists say the illegal collection of orchids is pushing species to the edge of extinction, with dire consequences for biodiversity.

With some vulnerable species available on the black market before they can even be formally named, biologists and customs officers alike are battling to preserve the captivating plants.

Sex appeal

Admired for their beauty, orchids make up the largest family of flowering plants (Orchidaceae) with over 26,000 species.

The plants vary enormously from tiny 3-4mm Bulbophyllum minutissimum to 20m long vanillas: lianas that grow high up in rainforest.

What unites them is the unique way they germinate from seeds, developing a tuberous mass of cells to form a seedling plant.

For orchid admirers however it is the sensual differences between the plants that inspire such admiration and many are driven wild by the unique shape, scent and sight of new species.

Victorian Britons referred to the condition as “orchidelerium”, an insatiable lust for collecting the plants.

From delicate ghost orchids to the beautifully coloured petals of Cattleya, the aesthetic appeal of orchids is obvious.

Throughout history the plants have been considered “overtly sexual” with voluptuous blooms sporting enlarged lips (labellum): pouting platforms to entice insect pollinators.

But the individuality and appeal of orchids also makes them vulnerable.

“Orchids are naturally rare with many species only being known from a handful of populations,” says orchid expert Dr David Roberts from the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology at the University of Kent, UK.

“Smuggling only affects the groups that are specifically in demand which isn’t all orchids. However for the groups that are sought after, such as slipper orchids, it is a big problem.”

High price

Rare species can fetch a pretty penny; a single stem of the Rotchschild’s Orchid (Paphiopedilum rothschildianum), known as the Gold of Kinabalu, is reported to command prices of around $5000.

After its discovery in 1987 this slipper orchid, remarkable for its imposing horizontal petals, was stripped from the wild by orchid smugglers bringing it close to extinction.

Despite reintroduction of the plant from cultivated seedlings, it is still described as endangered and its few known wild locations in Kinabalu National Park in Sabah, Malaysia are kept a closely guarded secret.

However, not all species are afforded the same protection.

Last year, Asian orchid expert Dr Jaap J Vermeulen studied an orchid collected by conservationists in a national park in Sarawak, Malaysia.

But before he could describe the new species to science, it had been introduced to the black market.

“Bulbophyllum kubahense is a particularly beautiful species with a dense [cluster] of fairly large, white, heavily purple spotted flowers. That makes it desirable to orchid growers,” Dr Vermeulen explains.

“Traders found the species in a conservation area, and first thought that is was a particularly luxuriant form of another, similar looking species… Plants appeared in nurseries in Sarawak, Singapore and Thailand.”

Through his analysis, published in the journal Plant Systematics and Evolution, Dr Vermeulen confirmed that the plant was a “true novelty”.

“It is beautiful, and it is rare: only known from a single locality near Kuching, Sarawak. That will put the price up, and with it the collecting pressure on the natural population,” he warns.

Populations stripped

This is not the first time an orchid has been endangered before it has even been formally described.

Such is the demand from collectors, smugglers scour the globe for new species of orchid, sometimes removing whole populations of plants before anyone else knows of their existence.

Dr Vermeulen cites examples from peninsular Malaysia and Vietnam but the most famous example comes from Peru.

Phragmipedium kovachii was first found in 2001 and is referred to as one of the most important natural history discoveries of the last decade.

A foot tall with striking purple blooms, it is a distinctive member of the lady’s slipper family, named for their slipper-shaped petal pouches.

Orchid dealer James Kovach bought the orchid from a roadside vendor in Peru and travelled back to his native US with it.

Within days, the Peruvian authorities asked the US Fish and Wildlife Service to investigate the plant, as all Phragmipedium are banned from export under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

After its initial description, illegally plucked specimens of P. kovachii were reportedly changing hands amongst frenzied growers for as much as $10,000.

Kovach received two years probation and was made to pay a fine of $1000 for violating the endangered species act.

Experts and customs officers join forces to protect vulnerable

The orchid still bears the name kovachii but is now limited to a few authorised growers in Peru.

Although conservationists acknowledge the prosecution, they say the fines are not high enough to deter smugglers from their billion dollar enterprise.

“To a dedicated collector of wild-sourced orchids, price has no bearing,” says Dr Richard Thomas, from the wildlife trade monitoring network Traffic International.

Dr Thomas says it is “notoriously difficult” to estimate the value of illicit trade.
Ruthless collection

According to Traffic’s figures, the legal trade in live orchids in Europe alone involves more than 370 million plants.

These orchids adhere to the CITES regulations: they come from licensed nurseries that hold the appropriate permits for international trade.

In these nurseries, single specimens are duplicated through micropropagation: creating thousands of cloned plants for the consumer market.

Despite advances, this process is costly and time-consuming.

The cloned plants are also considered inferior by collectors that value the variety in wild orchids’ blooms.

“There are a small number of hard core ‘collectors’ for whom only a wild-sourced orchid will do, and they can be ruthless in their pursuit of this goal,” says Dr Thomas.

“This can have a devastating impact on newly discovered species, where there is likely to be a demand created for the plant almost overnight.”
Protecting the future

The UK’s rarest orchid, Cypripedium calceolus, receives round-the-clock police surveillance where it grows on a Lancashire golf course.

But this level of protection is not globally consistent.

In the rainforests of South America and Asia, protecting individual species is an epic task.

Beyond the practical difficulties of surveying entire rainforests with limited resources, conservationists also have to contend with the pressures of developing nations.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s orchid specialist group, tropical orchid habitat is vanishing as timber is removed, minerals mined and land cleared for roads and housing.

Some collectors insist that, by removing orchids from areas under threat from human development, they are protecting the future of species.

For some orchids, their only hope lies in ex-situ conservation: cultivation in nurseries is the only thing keeping species like Paphiopedilum vietnamenese from extinction.

In the interests of biodiversity however, conservationists maintain that orchids must be protected in their natural environment.

“For species with highly restricted ranges and severely threatened habitat, any removal of wild specimens poses a significant threat,” says Dr Thomas.

“The loss of any one species is a tragedy – the world needs rich biological diversity to survive. Species have taken millennia to evolve, but can be lost in days.”

A very happy Chinese New Year to everyone! Hope everyone celebrated the beginning of bunny year with your loved ones and wishing you all a happy and prosperous year ahead!

For the love birds, Happy Valentine’s Day in advance. =)

My new design for Valentine’s Day 2011 will be out in a day. Hopefully, the printer will do a good job in printing out the catalogs this year.

Thanks everyone for visiting LeFiores.com and I hope to post more actively on my blog in the months to come. Stay tuned!

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Sweet Pink Roses for Mum!

Mother’s Day – 9 May 2010 (Sunday)

This year, LeFiores only delivers to the state of Melaka in order to maintain the quality and freshness of the flowers.

So if your mum resides in Melaka, surprise her with a bouquet of fresh flowers from LeFiores and make her happy!

Gourmet Dark Chocolate Cake

If your mum loves cake, you can include your flowers with a gourmet cake baked especially by my friend, Edwin – a professional pastry chef from Asian Havana Cafe. Edwin has whipped up two delicious flavors especially for us; Low-Sugar Gourmet Dark Chocolate Cake and Low-Fat Blueberry Cheese Cake. Now, here’s the special deal, for each floral items purchased above RM100, you’re entitled to add a cake for your mum for just RM50!

Green Mine 100% Natural Handmade Soap

Additionally, I also have in store a few packages of limited Green Mine handmade soaps made from natural ingredients in Singapore by my dearest friend, Max. Max started Green Mine and began making soaps from his lab (i.e. kitchen (^_^)) during his free time. Like Edwin, Max also whipped up two flavors namely; Rose and Aqua. These natural soaps are great for your mum’s skin and good for the environment because it contains not one bit of chemicals with weird names found in most of our commercial soaps. Each package contains three (3) assorted pieces of Green Mine natural soaps stylishly gift-wrapped with premium gift paper and gold ribbons.

Let us help you make your mom feel like a royalty when you send her these eco-chic soaps and a bouquet of fresh flowers. I’m sure your mum would love this!!!!

How to order for Mother’s Day

1. Select your favorite bouquet through my blog here and click through the BUY NOW button to proceed with your order and payment details.

Alternatively, please click here for the product page.

To add these gourmet cakes and handmade natural soaps to your order, please email me at ammie@lefiores.com with your name and email address with the Subject Re: I want to add a cake/soap to my order.

Note: For gourmet cakes, please order 2 days in advance.

2. Once the order and payment details are submitted, please wait for my order confirmation email (I will usually respond within 24 hours).

3. After you’ve received my confirmation email, I will arrange your bouquet and deliver the flowers to your mum on your requested delivery date.

Important: Please read through my Store Policy before ordering. Thank you. =)

Happy Shopping!

Sarracenia (pronounced /ˌsærəˈsiːniə/ or /ˌsærəˈsɛniə/) is a genus comprising 8 to 11 species of North American pitcher plants. The genus belongs to the family Sarraceniaceae, which also contain the closely allied genera Darlingtonia and Heliamphora.

Sarracenia is a genus of carnivorous plants indigenous to the eastern seaboard, Texas, the Great Lakes area and southeastern Canada, with most species occurring only in the south-east United States (only S. purpurea occurs in cold-temperate regions). The plant’s leaves have evolved into a funnel in order to trap insects, digesting their prey with proteases and other enzymes.

The insects are attracted by a nectar-like secretion on the lip of pitchers, as well as a combination of color and scent. Slippery footing at the pitchers’ rim, aided in at least one species by a narcotic drug lacing the nectar, causes insects to fall inside, where they die and are digested by the plant as a nutrient source.

Here are some Sarracenia that is available in store right now.

Sarracenia Farhamii

Sarracenia Farhamii Hybrid

Sarracenia Flava

Sarracenia Leucophylla Hybrid

Sarracenia Stevensii

Also, you can learn all about the Sarracenia genus and how to take care of them here:
http://www.sarracenia.com/faq.html

One of them is this snail-shell-looking ‘Begonia Rex Escargot’ or more commonly called simply as ‘Escargot’.

Via Finegardening.com…

Botanical Name: Begonia ‘Escargot’ bah-GO-nyah
Genus: Begonia

‘Escargot’ is an extremely popular Rex hybrid begonia that is quickly becoming a household name. Its moniker reflects the snail-shaped curl located where the base of the leaf meets the leaf stem. The intriguing foliage can stand on its own but also mingles beautifully with other foliage plants and brightly colored blooms.

Care: Provide organic, sharp-draining soil in shade with lots of humidity. Water when soil is dry to the touch. Avoid soggy conditions, but do not allow plants to wilt. Do not over-fertilize. Remove dead leaves promptly and keep the soil surface free of debris to avoid disease problems.

It’s now available in store! Drop by and have a look!

'Organic Butterflies on Roses' Bridal Bouquet

Here is a bridal bouquet with pretty earthy hues of green dendrobiums and creamy champagne roses for a pre-wedding photo-shoot session. I always love to pair some dendrobium orchids with flowers of softer look such as roses, because it brings out an edgy touch to the overall feel of the bouquet. Don’t you think that the green dendrobium orchids in the bouquet resemble so much like butterflies?

Sometimes, I have clients who requested for artificial butterflies in their bridal bouquet and wedding centerpieces to complement their garden or fairy theme. You know, those butterflies made of wires, nylons, and tons of glitters. As I have always believed in using natural ingredients in floral designing, I usually prefer to substitute these artificial butterflies with orchids because it’s more organic and natural. Moreover, it is more cost-effective to use natural substitutes than artificial factory-made ones.

My Strawberry Parfait

Congratulations to the lovely couple, Justin and Gracie!

This year also mark my 10th year of friendship with the couple! Time flies but I sure hope we all stay happy and healthy forever. =)

Cheers and lots of hugs to the newly wed!

On another note, thank god the bad haze had toned down a little bit. The past two weeks was dreadful! Have a great day y’all!