Thursday, March 6. 2008
Poaching Plants in Mexico
They take most of their garden plants straight from the wild, and nature is suffering. Can Mexico encourage people to grow and buy plants at nurseries? The Austin American Statesman asks the question.
Nancy Flores/COX NEWSPAPERS
Golden barrel cacti are rare in the wild but common in nurseries, including this regional botanical garden in Queretaro....
More than a third of the country's species are considered at risk of disappearing....
Some experts are trying to encourage Mexicans to build nurseries to grow tame cacti instead of pulling wild ones out of the ground. Emiliano Sanchez Martinez, director of a botanical garden in the Queretaro desert, supervises a youth-run greenhouse in the small town of El Arbolito.
Golden barrel cacti are rare in the wild but common in nurseries, including this regional botanical garden in Queretaro....
More than a third of the country's species are considered at risk of disappearing....
Some experts are trying to encourage Mexicans to build nurseries to grow tame cacti instead of pulling wild ones out of the ground. Emiliano Sanchez Martinez, director of a botanical garden in the Queretaro desert, supervises a youth-run greenhouse in the small town of El Arbolito.
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Coincidentally, I just posted about a golden barrel cactus which I bought at Lowe's in Las Vegas and brought back with me to Austin.
According to the label, the source is a nursery in Gilbert, Arizona. However, there are no specifics on whether they raised it from seed or from specimens collected in the wild.
I missed the original Statesman article as I was in Las Vegas at the time.
According to the label, the source is a nursery in Gilbert, Arizona. However, there are no specifics on whether they raised it from seed or from specimens collected in the wild.
I missed the original Statesman article as I was in Las Vegas at the time.
#1
M Sinclair Stevens (Texas) (http://www.zanthan.com/gardens/gardenlog/?p=2332) on Mar 7 2008, 12:43 Reply
Small barrels are raised from seed. There aren't enough in the wild to poach. Larger barrels on the other hand...
But the paper is describing a problem in Mexico, where they don't have the same nurseries we do.
We don't tag our plants, because they're grown not collected, but I suppose customers have to take our word for it. But still, one can tell if you know what to look for.
But the paper is describing a problem in Mexico, where they don't have the same nurseries we do.
We don't tag our plants, because they're grown not collected, but I suppose customers have to take our word for it. But still, one can tell if you know what to look for.
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