Dave Sheehy wrote:

I make my point about corals to dispel the notion that no types of
animals can be propagated in the fashion you mention.



Well, in this case you are actually separating individual organisms
from a colony (if I recall properly, no guarantee of that...), so it
isn't quite the same thing as dividing a plant, but I take your point.
I seem to recall that flatworms can be split in half, if you are looking
for a more exact analogy... And I'm sure there are some plants that
can't easily be propagated (lots of cacti are very slow growers, for
example). I don't have a problem with restricting trade in slow growing
plants (or corals!). I think we both agree that the easily propagated
things should be propagated and distributed to reduce collection
pressure, however, which was my main argument.


That raises the question of whether all orchid species are easily
propagated. The answer is most certainly no! But many of the
horticulturally desirable ones (the ones that get smuggled the most) are
fairly easy to grow from seed with the proper equipment. Additionally,
since a flask is an obviously artificial environment, sending such a
flask is obvious evidence of artificial propagation. Should make plant
inspectors happy.


Rob

--
Rob's Rules: http://www.msu.edu/~halgren
1) There is always room for one more orchid
2) There is always room for two more orchids
2a. See rule 1
3) When one has insufficient credit to purchase
more orchids, obtain more credit