The controversy regarding the ethics of collecting plants from nature versus growing them from seed has greatly escalated during the last ten years. The U.S. government regulates this to some extent through its agricultural phytosanitary regulations and through CITES. CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, is an international agreement to help protect various species of plants and animals which are considered endangered in habitat. Much controversy exists here, too, as to such things as which species should be listed, when exceptions should be made, hybrid organisms etc. Various plant and animal species are also protected to greater or lesser degrees by the governments of the countries from where these organisms are found.

The subject of this essay is not the above mentioned possible legal restrictions but rather a philosophical point of view. Here, we are talking about the collection of plants from nature, not whether the specific instance is legal or illegal. Please understand that I am not advocating doing anything illegal, only that this is not the point under discussion. Also, please understand that what I am discussing here is the ethics of collecting plants and not animals.

Before we go any further into this topic, you should know something about where my points of view originate. I have a collection of collected plants and I sell collected plants. I also have an advanced college degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, have taught ecology at the college level, and was the coordinator for the twenty-year anniversary of Earth Day at West Los Angeles College. I am also very much against most (not all) of the collection of wild animals which takes place today, and in general, have a very great respect for nature.

So, why all the fuss?

At one time, many of the more rare and exotic plants being found in collections were taken from nature as opposed to being artificially propagated (grown from seed or cuttings). As a portion of the human population became more concerned with the effects of man on the environment, the question arose as to whether this should continue. At the present time, this topic has in no way been resolved in the minds of many people who are involved with it. In fact, there has evolved a strong division with two opposing groups: One group is only interested in seeing collected plants; and the other group thinks that collecting plants from nature is immoral and downright wrong. In addition to all the various points of view which represent a combination of these two extreme views there is a very small third group which has a point of view that will not be discussed here. This third group thinks that no plant should be kept in a pot under any circumstances.

This topic has been discussed at great length in the various journals dealing with rare plants, most notable being those dealing with orchids, cycads and cactus and succulents. There are many outspoken parties on both sides ranging from "Just say no" (to collected plants) to those who see no harm in this practice at all. Let us look at the positive and negative aspects of both points of view.

Collecting Plants from Nature is Acceptable and Desirable

1. Fully grown mature specimens are available quickly. Some plants which are very slow-growing, such as many cycads and caudiciform succulents, take so long to grow that a large mature specimen will take a lifetime or more to grow from seed.

2. Plants which are appreciated for their sculptural beauty, such as many caudiciform species, are far more beautiful when grown by nature as opposed to growing them by seed in cultivation.

Collecting Plants from Nature is Wrong or At Least Wrong Under Most Circumstances

1. When done irresponsibly as has been done in some cases, taking plants from nature can threaten their survival.

2. Collecting plants from nature is wrong. Period. The plants belong in nature.

Perspective

The following viewpoints are the result of over twenty years of experience. Some is opinion based on fact, but most is fact.

Very few people doubt the fact that some plants are almost impossibly slow to grow from seed or some other form of artificial propagation in cultivation. It is also a fact that many people find many collected plants far more beautiful than those grown from seed in cultivation. Even with the advanced methods of cultivation available today, many caudiciforms and cycads take very long periods of time to grow from seed, etc., and in the case of caudiciform succulents, the resulting artificially propagated specimens are nowhere near as attractive as their wild collected relatives.

In my opinion, one objection to collected plants does have some merit. This is the objection based on the fact that some species of plants have been threatened in habitat because of over-collection. This has been the case in a few species of cycads, orchids and possibly a few other species. There is no doubt in my mind that this type of thing is wrong and should be discontinued. This is, however, not nearly as common as some people would have us believe. I have made a great number of trips to Africa and Latin America and would be very hard pressed to describe any more than a handful of instances of this type. In fact, there are many more instances of plants being saved from destruction or extinction by development or agriculture than there are instances of plants being harmed by over collection. Most species of plants have a much larger range than is generally known and are in no danger from collectors.

The objection to collected plants based on the statement that it is just wrong, is the one that I really take issue with. Is it wrong to wipe out a species for any reason? I think it is. Is it wrong to offer local people comparatively large sums of money to collect every plant of a given species they can? In many cases, I would say yes, it is. But I would also say that the dissemination of information designed to make a person who enjoys growing rare and unusual plants feel like he or she is committing what should be a criminal act, is totally ridiculous. The fact is that in most cases, this is harmless. In fact, when people are allowed to pursue their interest in nature, they usually develop a much stronger regard for it. With a few very notable exceptions, it has been my experience that the people who are the most vocal regarding no collected plants have been and still are the greatest offenders. I will not site the specific examples of this type of behavior which I easily could, because it would then become a personal attack. Just suffice it to say that these people have theirs and now they don't want to afford others the same privilege. The real point here is just this: Why should people not engage in an activity they enjoy if it is legal, gives them pleasure and has a minimal effect on the environment?