THE LAST
ORCHID HUNTER
In the past it was
possible for a person to venture out into some unknown forest or jungle
somewhere, to search for and to collect any species of plant they might like to
have. Few countries had plant
export regulations, or even cared about the plants people would take from their
country. The United States has
established plant quarantine regulations for many years, and in order to import
those plants, permits and inspections were necessary. The only requirements were that they were free from pests or
diseases and that they were not noxious weeds or illegal drugs. No country, it seems, had much interest
in the kinds species of plants which passed across their borders.
But in the latter part
of the twentieth century, notice began being made of the fact that some people
had made money from orchids they collected, and a movement was started to find
ways to put an end to the practice.
Countless numbers of other plant species had always been sought by plant
collectors, but no one showed much interest in what was done with them once
they arrived into the import country.
Plant collectors were always considered as those ‘fringe-types’
of people and their activities were simply excused by most everyone else.
When the great surge in interest in Paphiopedilum orchids began in the
late 1960s, fueled by the drive of such individuals as Dr. Jack Fowlie, Ray
Rands, ‘Doc’ Charles and many others, including myself, those
orchids began appearing in greenhouses around the world. It was soon realized that orchid
growers were not ordinary people; they were people who had money. At least that was the general
impression other people had about them.
Such activities hardly drew notice from most people, but it bothered
certain others.
With the movement for the conservation of the
world’s animals and plants gaining strength in the developed countries,
it provided those bitter individuals a perfect excuse and a means by which they
could devise legal regulations to legally put an end to the possibility of
anyone profiting from their collected orchids. In 1980, regulations were implemented by the members of
CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Ends, and huge fines and
lengthy prison confinement have been handed out to those individuals who cannot
provide proper paperwork for their plants. In reality, the ‘proper’ paperwork is entirely
in the judgment of the confiscating authorities. The extremist environmentalists have gained the upper hand
and the situation is now completely out of control.
The reality of the situation now is,
orchid species still in the jungles will ultimately perish. Since there exists no possibility of
them being rescued from those forests which are being cut and burned by native
populations, it is their fate.
Worse still, is the fact that nothing can ever be learned from them, and
no new orchid species will be discovered, other than by the occasional
collections made by one or two selected botanists from the Royal Botanic Garden
in Kew, England.
Dr.
Jack Fowlie, Dr. George Kennedy and myself were only three individuals who
searched the jungles in distant countries, seeking to learn about orchids with
the sole purpose of disseminating that information to waiting orchid growers
around the globe. Ours was not a
commercial quest, it was strictly for the knowledge to be gained from them, and
because we three had a burning desire to find the truth. It was a never-ending search, since
there are so many thousands of orchid species, unfortunately, both of my
friends and fellow collectors are dead.
I alone survive.
I may as well have passed on too, since
the extremists have seen to it that nothing else can ever be learned from those
unknown species still hiding in their jungle habitats. For whatever new species that might be
discovered by an institutional botanist, the interpretation of that information
might only be released, if and when Kew deems it necessary. It is a sad state of affairs.
Unfortunately, aside from the few foreign
commercial orchid collectors, Dr. Fowlie, Dr. Kennedy and myself were the last
orchid collectors before the ban went into effect. The events which I describe in the following chapters have
now become historic. I am the last
orchid hunter.
Lance A. Birk
PREFACE
People’s
fascination with orchids stems for the most part, as much from their ignorance
about them as from their curiosity about the strange and frequently heard
‘mystical’ powers they reportedly possess. Apart from the fact that many thousands
of orchid species have such strange shapes in comparison to flowers people are
familiar with, and with their beautiful colors, strong fragrances and strange
reproductive and entrapment mechanisms, it does place orchids in a dimension
which most people can perhaps acknowledge, but choose to just ....leave them
well enough alone. Like some
things in life, some areas are not meant to be understood by common man.
Additionally, an observation one familiar
with orchids can honestly, but perhaps somewhat less so in their own
circumstance make, is that more often than not, an orchid’s ability to
evolve its physical structure to attract a particular species of pollinator
somehow seems to have included a unique ability to attract particular members
of the human species. These
different kinds of humans cover a broad spectrum of personality typesangered
Species, when they began to regulate orchid shipments, and in 1990 they
outlawed international trade in orchids.
The ban included any orchid species or hybrid, or any part of any
orchid, dead or alive. This ban
was mandated in all signatory countries to the Convention.
At
present, there are now forces in place, to enforce those restrictions, and in
some countries orchid collections have been confiscated in raids by police,
armed with both automatic weapons and vicious attack dog, but seldom are they referred to as
normal, by even their closest friends.
I would not go so far as to call them ‘weird,’ but I have
heard orchid growers called by several different and rather colorful names.
Increasing numbers of
these individuals have made attempts to gain a wider understanding of orchids,
and have found that not only are orchids not dangerous or intimidating, but
people can actually learn the conditions required to keep them and to grow them
in captivity. From these
experiences have come many successful relationships humans have made with
orchids and much knowledge about them has been obtained and passed on to
others.
But orchids do not
willingly give up their secrets, they must be begged, coerced, enticed or even
beaten out of them. (Just kidding
about the last word...usually it’s one’s head one is banging against
a wall, just trying to glean some understanding of their needs, which gets
beaten.) In the past fifty or so
years, volumes of information have become available for interested people to
learn from the experiences of these dedicated and thoughtful orchid growers.
In far too many cases however, a
disappointing bulk of that data is found to be either incorrect, or it does not
adequately answer one’s questions.
In a more recent period, alarming amounts of published information heretofore
relied upon as solid bases of knowledge, are routinely being changed,
challenged or discarded by people we think of as experts. This brings chaos into a world in which
a large proportion of curious and intelligent people are seeking guidance and
direction for their orchid cultivation.
Originally, information
was provided by individuals who oftentimes risked life and limb in an attempt
to gain from orchids, ... (usually it was an attempt to gain financially). Infrequently however, a small handful
of botanists who’s institutional support compensated somewhat for their
discomfort and risks, undertook a worthwhile search for a true understanding
about orchids, which would add to the general bases of knowledge about them and
would provide more accurate data about their existence in nature.
But for the most part,
solid and factual information about a great number of orchid species was not
only erroneous, it was non-existent.
When the great surge in the interest in Paphiopedilum orchids began in the
late 1960s, only a few individuals had the courage to leave the comforts of
home and go to where they lived to learn the real truth about them. It was not for profit, but strictly for
knowledge. We did it because we
needed to understand them. We had
that burning desire and could not rest until we learned the truth.
There is no fun in
collecting orchids; it is hard work, all of it. It is expensive; it requires a considerable amount of time
and a dedicated effort few people can afford or are willing to give. It also requires a critical mind and
logical thought. One, by
necessity, must have the ability to understand what they observe and to be able
to accurately deduce what they do not observe, or at least have the ability to
make those judgments based upon an accumulation of knowledge and experience.
But essentially, one
must have a curiosity which never leaves them alone. It must be one that constantly compels them to find answers
to those endless questions that wake them in the middle of the night. The ones which deny sleep until
something is done to elicit an answer.
Hardships may be endured; curiosity cannot.
Fortunately I had the wherewithal to
occasionally feed that hunger, and I presented many of my findings in two
editions of my book, The Paphiopedilum
Grower’s Manual, both of which have now become one of the best
selling titles in the orchid world.
I never chose to be an
orchid collector, but one day I awoke to the reality that I had become one. I
never sold an orchid I collected; but would give one to anyone who asked. For those particularly rare species I
collected, I propagated them from seed to provided the orchid community with
the opportunity to obtain their own plants of the species, thereby adding
assurance to their continued existence and understanding in our lives.
The real truth of the matter about
orchids is that private individuals are the only ones with the self-motivating
drive to learn from orchids, and they have consistently provided the bulk of
data about them. And now, the true
irony of the situation is that the educators have now halted the
education. To learn the ultimate
outcome for orchid species in the wild you will want to read the last chapter
in this book.
The following chapters are an accurate account of many
different personal experiences gathered over a twenty-five year span, as seen
through the eyes of an energetic and thoughtful adventurer. They are presented
here with the thought of providing an extraordinary view into some of the
numerous triumphs and tragedies of life to be found once one leaves the
confines of their civilized existence.
Lance A. Birk
July 30, 2006