Q: Should I buy carnivorous plants from eBay?


S. flava


Dionaea


Pinguicula moranensis


Drosera stolonifera

A: Usually the most reliable ways to get carnivorous plants are through dedicated carnivorous plant nurseries, in purchases from societal seedbanks, or by trade from other growers. And then there is eBay...

Buying on eBay can be a lot of fun, and you can get some bargains on all kinds of cool things. Of course, you can get screwed, too. It's a big world. I sometimes get bombarded with e-mail queries about eBay plants, the prices, and the sources. Are the plants legal? Are they poached?

There are many types of sellers. Some are people just selling a few extra plants from their collections. There are bigger operations--essentially e-stores--run by folks who are selling plants on a larger scale--they might for example represent an on-line face of a nursery. Both of these sellers are usually quite reliable.

Indeed--I even sell plants on eBay, either specimens from my own collection, or as a representative of the University of California (Davis) Botanical Conservatory. I certainly think that I'm reliable! (Look for me selling under the sneaky eBay name of BarryARice.)

But then you run into people who are selling crap at outrageous prices, or are folks who live in carnivorous plant territory, and who are selling (probably) poached plants. They may have pulled them out of the ground (legally or otherwise). They may be willing to sell you plants across international borders without proper paperwork (in which case, the legal officials will visit YOU because as importer the responsibility rests with you to have everything in order!). Avoid such sellers, I counsel you.

Are the plants being sold on various eBay auctions field collected? Look carefully at the claims. I would not want to buy Sarracenia from a grower in Florida, but would not mind buying Pinguicula from a grower in Tucson. Do you really believe the claims that the Sarracenia were snatched from the ground just before the bulldozers came? Maybe they were, but you just don't know.

So, gentle reader, I leave you with no answers and only more questions. Make up your own mind. But my suggestion would be to make sure you are buying plants from dedicated carnivorous plant nurseries, societies, or hobbyists. I don't know about your God, but mine considers poaching to be a stain on the soul.

Page citations: personal observation.