 One day, not long ago, I was sitting at the round table in front of the Yellow Rose, drinking a cold Pilsen beer with my good friend Ryan, and talking about the many beautiful orchids and epiphytes we have observed in the rainforest near Iquitos Peru. Ryan nodded his head to the side, looked around conspiratorially, leaned toward me and said in a low voice,
Tarapoto is a good place for nature lovers. It was near here the English botanist and explorer, Richard Spruce, discovered, and named the Platycerium Andinum, or Staghorn Fern. Spruce’s specimen died before getting back to England and it was not until 1969 that Lee Moore, the Adventurer, rediscovered the staghorn in the vicinity of Tarapoto and got a live specimen back to civilization.  I fondly remember growing two staghorn ferns in the shower of my bathroom in Indiana, in the mid 70s, doing my best to recreate the tropical rainforest environment. When I found my first magnificent specimen in the wild rainforest, I realized how pitiful my houseplants had been. This monster circled most of the tree, had fronds hanging down 5 ft or more and the 35 shield fronds grew nearly 2 feet tall. If my house plants had reached their natural potential there would not have been room for me to take a shower. The next morning I was extremely disappointed my camera still did not work. I purchased the used Canon 3.2 mega pixel that I had borrowed the day before. Compared to the Nikon D-70 at 5 mega pixels, the wonderful lens and all the buttons and functions that I know and love, this was a big loss. With no practice and the manual in Spanish, the odds of getting great photos were about the same as finding an orchid big as a plate.  Moyobamba is the Orchid City with 2,500 species of orchids growing in the high jungle around the town. Marmelita and I hiked jungle trails, saw hundreds of species in full bloom, soaked in the hot springs, went to more waterfalls, and pursued tips to the nearby villages of Lamas and Rioja. We had a good adventure, accomplished most of what we set out to do, and learned a lot. We learned the truth is rarely heard, seldom seen, and difficult to photograph; the orchid is more the size of a saucer than a plate, but it is one of the most beautiful, rare, and valuable blossoms I have ever laid eyes on. Here is most of the story, woven together from several sources we interviewed in and around Moyobamba. Some of the locations and most of the juicy gossip I am keeping to myself. A farmer named Faustino Medina set in motion an Indiana Jones style adventure by discovering a large group of pretty flowering plants. He dug some and sold them at a crossroad truck stop called El Progresso for $1 apiece. An orchid collector named Michael Kovach, like a typical gringo, paid $3.60 apiece for three of them. Perhaps he can be forgiven for not negotiating the price. He knew they could be worth $10,000 apiece and make him famous. I imagine him running down the road, looking over his shoulder, cradling his three treasures, but an important part of the story is that he used Lee Moore’s taxi driver, Jose Mendoza. He did not have to run; Mendoza drove him directly to Moore, who confirmed, “You have the Holy Grail of Orchids.”  Wild orchids are protected by the international CITES treaty. This orchid was new to science and was unnamed. The catch is that only 23 experts in the world can name an orchid and none of them are in Peru. To gain possession of an unnamed, world-class orchid is hard. To get a legal permit to take the orchid to an official taxonomist is next to impossible. Legend has it that Lee Moore has smuggled most of the things that can be smuggled. His advice was to put it in a suitcase and go straight to the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, Florida. They are affiliated with 5 taxonomists, the most of any botanical garden in the world. Kovach walked through customs and realized his dream by having the lady slipper orchid named after him, Phragmipedium kovachii. It is ok to build a road and destroy a million orchids. It is not ok to take one orchid out of the country in a suitcase. That it has been done many times is not a defense, and it was not a defense this time. Federal agents confiscated the plant and charged and convicted the collector and the botanical garden of possession of an endangered species and illegal trade. They paid thousands of dollars in fines, served probation, and suffered loss of reputation. At approximately the same time, the taxi driver, Jose Mendoza raided Faustino Medina’s patch, taking every plant, and selling them on the black market to dealers in Ecuador and Lima. Lee Moore has the other two plants left by Kovach, and has mysteriously acquired 200 others that he is raising and propagating for the time when they are legal to export, or until someone shows up with a suitcase full of money. Farmer Faustino discovered another patch and seems to have sold several hundred for $4 apiece to a rogue with a pickup truck named Kenneth Reategui, who has a small recreational park and restaurant on the outskirts of Tarapoto. He fenced them to an orchid dealer in Lima for what is understood to be a small fortune. An article appeared in the Orchidist, about the last known site of P. kovachii. A thousand mature plants. It was considered to be a safe site because of its inaccessibility, requiring a “hike from hell”. Two weeks later a helicopter with cargo boxes swooped in and stole all but two plants too high up on the cliff to reach. Armed men who would not know an orchid from a cactus are fingering the hibiscus. Be careful, it is intoxicating. William David Grimes - bill@dawnontheamazon.com Dawn on the Amazon E.I.R.L. - Phone # 51 65 223730 Urbanización, Acuario B-7 - Cell Ph # 51 65 9943267 Iquitos, Peru S.A. - www.dawnontheamazon.com Anyone interested in an Orchid Forum web site click here: Orchids Forums
| |||||
