Collected Avonias?

[topsy]

HI All,

There has been a large quantity of Avonias for sale in several lots on Ebay this week which IMHO have been collected in RSA. One lot is still on-line and looks for all the world as if the four plants have been removed from on-end rock strata. They are bare root and don't look as though they have been potted and produced new roots yet.

How is it that so many of these beautiful little treasures are being dug up wholesale from the wild, are they on someone's farm or are they just being removed?

Suzanne

[ChrisR]

Just being removed from habitat IMO Suzanne. They maybe get tranfered to a "nursery" where they become legalised, either by a bribe or claiming they've been cultivated, or they may get shipped straight out. I've tried many times to bring this to the attention of various people in SA, including nature conservation, but no one seems bothered enough to investigate or to try and stop it. I suspect unless whoever is doing it gets caught in the act, it will unfortunately continue.

Prospective purchasers need educating.

[Diane]

Yes, I saw those too, and immediately thought "habitat". Obviously very lucrative for the seller, as they fetch high prices, and the buyers are probably unconcerned about the plants' origins, but how can this practice be policed? SA is vast, and plant smuggling is probably not top priority for the authorities.