Unfortunately one of a few conos which have been poached to extinction in the last couple of years. Crazy when regale has been (and still is) relatively common in cultivation and usually available as seeds.

It may be botrytis as Stuart suggests but they can also get powdery mildew. It's actually perforata not perfolata Rachel, but your plant is not that anyway, it's Crassula rupestris......and they need much more light and fresh air than it seems to be getting. They are not really at their best as hous...

These are better photos of Anacampseroa bayeriana which I recently received from a friend who lives and works in Bushmanland.That's his wedding ring.

A friend sent me these cell phone photos of Aloe aristata in habitat on the Drakensberg. Not what I expected......

I lost a lot of conos due to scorch a few years ago so started putting a heavier whitewash on the glass but even that has been insufficient these past couple of years. So I pinned up voile (net curtain) last year and it certainly helped keep down the temperature with zero losses. But at the moment 3...

I wonder what are the final prices when the plants reach the individual collectors.... Not a lot....Bulbine lolita, a rare species only know from a couple of small populations sold for 30RMB (£3.75) each when they reached China. Screenshot.jpg.png Mature plants of various Tylecodon including noltei...

The solution for plant poaching is the same as with drugs really, provide a cheaper, safe & legal (aka from accredited sources) material .... Sounds easy but it's not. When these mature habitat plants are being sold for pennies (literally) there's no way any commercial or even volunteer operati...

Is it all down to one nation? At this time with poaching in South Africa, yes, it is. It's completely down to the Chinese, not as a nation of course but as a few dozen individuals who for the past few years have encouraged and exploited locals to do it. Locals I may add who were completely ignorant...

Its easy, or rather too convenient, to forget that not so many years ago one could visit a Uk nursery and see tray upon tray of bare rooted ex habitat plants. Ernie is correct of course......as someone new to the hobby I too recall the habitat South African plants supplied by John Lavranos and sold...

I really don't think many people appreciate how bad the poaching is. Working with the South Africa police and others I have many, many more photos......Tylecodon, Bulbine, Pelargonium, bulbs, etc, etc, not to mention to the conophytums. Just a few here. The Chinese have released a monster as now the...