Sunday, December 21, 2003 Posted: 10:45 AM EST (1545 GMT)


TAMPA, Florida (AP) -- A famed botanical garden in Florida and one of its
experts pleaded guilty today to illegally importing one of the most prized
orchids ever found.

Marie Selby Botanical Gardens and one of its premier orchid experts --
Wesley E- Higgins -- were charged with accepting the ladyslipper orchid from
a collector who was indicted on felony charges of illegally bringing the
flower from Peru.

Court documents say the botanical garden pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor
charge of violating the federal Endangered Species Act and will pay a $5,000
fine and be placed on probation for three years.

The garden, located in Sarasota, must also apologize in a full-page ad in
the American Orchid Society magazine and send letters to "leading
herbariums" in the country warning them of the garden's experience with the
illegal flower.

Higgins was sentenced to two years probation and fined $2,000.




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