Succulent Poaching in California | Hacker News Reader

Succulent Poaching in California

sfgate.com

66 pointsmykowebhn15 comments

> Though altogether unremarkable as far as flora goes, Dudleya farinosa has captured the hearts of Chinese, Korean and Japanese collectors, some of whom are willing to pay upwards of $50 for a single plant, officials said.

The article doesn't mention it, but when flowering the plant is spectacular. I've seen the biggest stretches along the coastal section of Route 1 south of Big Sur. Around June is the time IIRC.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dudleya_farinosa

Wow! I've seen these in my neighbours yard in Japan...

I've also seen really amazing flowering D. Cymosa in the Santa Lucia mountains around big Sur and some stonecrops I haven't identified in the Eastern Sierra Nevada mountains.

I think I've got one of these in a planter on my back balcony. There is something alien and amazing about the flowering of succulents. If you're in Southern California (or planning a visit), I highly recommend the Huntington Library and Gardens (near Pasadena), where they have a magnificent collection.

On that topic, I'm going to take this opportunity to quote one of my favorite passages from Walter Pater, from the beginning of his essay on Michelangelo, since I don't know when I'll next have the opportunity to do so (at least here on Hacker News):

Critics of Michelangelo have sometimes spoken as if the only characteristic of his genius were a wonderful strength, verging, as in the things of the imagination great strength always does, on what is singular or strange. A certain strangeness, something of the blossoming of the aloe, is indeed an element in all true works of art; that they shall excite or surprise us is indispensable.

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2398/2398-h/2398-h.htm

>When pressed, the man reportedly told the woman the packages contained something "very valuable," while pointing to the ocean.

Not the brightest poachers..

I don't think he realized he was doing anything wrong.

Some time ago I received as a gift from a friend a similar species with fiery red leaves. It was fake of course. The poor thing was painted in red, (spray painted with aerosol cans), to mimick red leaves. The plant is suffocated by the treatment and dies normally shortly the after purchase, but I could save mine removing the plastic coat with a lot of patience.

Mexican street flower sellers practice a few notorious scams. The oromelia for example with a huge (and a little repulsive) fake flower made with carboard and sewed carnation petals. Is an interesting world.

Similar incidents threaten succulent plants of the genus Haworthia, largely endemic to South Africa. These plants have a stunning amount of variation and features which make for interesting hybrids: things which make them attractive to hobbyists and succulent gardeners. Rare Haworthia specimens are commonly grown in commercial nurseries or even by tissue culture labs, though many exotic species are still discovered in nature. Many are removed from their habitat illegally, put up for sale on eBay for hundreds of dollars.

Has anyone just considered farming these?

Freeling seems to think they already do in saying, "Go to a nursery and buy them."

Dudleya farinosa is easily purchased from a number of native plant sellers in California. At Yerba Buena Nursery in Half Moon Bay, you can buy a gallon — yes, a gallon — of Dudleya for $20. But that's not what international collectors appear to be after. According to a Press Democrat investigation, "large, wild-harvested Dudleya are considered luxury items ... Imperfections inflicted by the elements are a plus."

-- TFA

Beware, the sfgate.com site messes with your browser history and back button. I still regard such design as wrong-headed and bad.

Site breaks back button.

fossils were the only thing to make sense to me in this fucked up world

No love for Adaptation? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdYIqSZblv0

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