Of all the mistakes I made in that post, the most glaring is probably that I
didn't make it clear: it was paph Ho Chi Minh that was being sold by tray
fulls at local shows, not the species vietnamensis. Apparently Antec made
and sold and gave a way an awful lot of them...

....and A Paph. vietnamense was shown by Piping Creek at an AOS judging 3
months before the one at the Paph. Forum in Feb 2006 was shown by USBG.
This invalidated the CHM for the one awarded at the Paph Forum. I was
mistaken that an AM has been awarded to Paph vietnamense.

I was mistaken about a lot of things....However, I was not mistaken that
there is no proof a vendor inside the USA can offer at the time of sale that
his/her plants were legally obtained or descended from legally obtained
stock...no matter how many pieces of paper he/she can offer to staple to
your receipt. The original CITES import document stapled to a receipt can
only mean that at some point in the past the species (not necessarily the
plant you are buying) was imported legally (and not necessarily by the
person with the stapler.

If CITES enforcement arm is going to come knocking on your door asking for
proof and they make a legal charge that the plants you own are not legal,
you are probably a plant importer and/or vendor and you have done something
to draw their attention. It is very unlikely that they will show up as a
result of a purchase from a vendor already inside this country and nobody
else should be questioning the legality of plants you own or buy inside this
country and that includes the AOS as far as I can determine. At any rate,
save your receipts... :-) I don't why, it just seems wise.

And stop asking ME for proof if you want to buy one of my Ho Chi Minh or
vietnamesis. I'd be a fool to offer them for sale in public if I didn't
believe they were legal. And all I can offer you is a receipt. I can
staple something to it from Antec if it makes you happy but this is NOT
"proof". To be honest, all I can do is make the written claim the plants
came from antec on the receipt and sign it. You can believe it or not. It
is not "proof" but it is the best any legitimate vendor can offer with
regard to these two plants.

Stop me before I type again... Somebody help!


"Al" wrote in message
...

At several local show/sales, this plant has been available for sale in bud
by the tray full, so this plant is here in the USA in great numbers.