[MPWG] Fw: Pink Lady's Slipper cultivation

[Tony Hayes]

I am reminded of the fiasco we had back in the eighties when FWS and CITES decided to list this and other Orchid species under Appendix II.
  The federal register came out with the OSA finding and suddenly a few States including Georgia over reacted and immediately forbid any legal trade in these plants.
  Ironically there was a very successful cultivation of C. acaule going on in North Georgia until it became illegal to sell the plant material due to the plants CITES listing and the States reaction to same.
  The company I worked for at the time had old Lady Slipper stock that was grandfathered so we applied for and received an export permit but our customer in Germany had to apply for an import permit and it was not issued until after our original permit expired and we were not allowed to renew so we moved it out bit by bit domestically over a long period of time.
  We basically gave up on producing it in the US. Then I got involved with a group in Quebec that did some timber thinning and other minimal site manipulation that lead to increased populations of this and some other targeted understory species back in the nineties but it didn't pay off either. 
  Now as stated below in the " Greeen Machine" article there is a very limited commercial market demand for "poor man's Valerian". It's hard enough to make a living growing V. officinalis in this country, anyway that's another story.
  I just returned from another road trip today to pick up a few roots. Got up at 5:30 AM and back home around 8:30 PM after driving through the Appalachians. It is obvious that clear cutting timber for strip mining, shopping centers, multi-lane highways and worst of all mountain top removal among other development is depleting our habitat and destroying more flora than we can imagine.
  I can supply seed or cuttings for many at risk species but they can't make it on asphalt and concrete.
  I would ask our Public officials and CITES representatives to consider looking more at the large natural resource corporations and developers instead of the lower income rural families to solve this dilemma. 
  Listing species on CITES is not a silver bullet to saving them from a few diggers as a matter of fact if they were not recognized by a few for there potential they would probably not be as prolific as they are in many cases.
  Industry and consumers need to understand that "Fair Trade" needs to apply not only to "3rd world" and "developing economies" but to rural Appalachia and other rural parts of North America as well. Maybe if we consider this going forward a few poor folks in Southern Appalachia can cultivate these plants legally and profitably once again as they did before some well meaning person in a glass cage with a degree and a computer came along and fixed it for them.
   
  Best regards,
  Tony
  
Patricia_DeAngelis at fws.gov wrote:
  
Forwarding a question from someone about Pink Lady's Slipper cultivation.   

Please respond directly to Gary Crivellone: <gary1star at comcast.net> 


----- Forwarded by Patricia De Angelis/ARL/R9/FWS/DOI on 04/25/2007 01:38 PM ----- 
        "Pacific Federal Resources /Gary Crivellone" <gary1star at comcast.net>   04/23/2007 04:29 PM 
            To
  <Patricia_DeAngelis at fws.gov>       cc
        Subject
  Pink Lady's Slipper
          



Patricia 
  
Green Medicine published this incomplete info on pink lady’s Slipper. What I am looking for is what fungal mycelia is required for the cultivation. 
  
If you could be of assistance. 
  
THANKS 
  
GARY CRIVELLONE 
  
  
      Pink Lady's Slipper 

Photo Copyright 2000 www.stevenfoster.com 
(Cypripedium acaule)

  Pink lady's slipper is a large, showy wildflower belonging to the orchid family. The root of lady's slipper has traditionally been used as a remedy for nervousness, tooth pain, and muscle spasms. In the 1800's and 1900's it (and other species of the genus) were widely used as a substitute for the European plant valerian (also a sedative).   Because this plant has an extremely long life cycle, taking many years to go from seed to mature, seed-bearing plant, and because it will grow only in very specific circumstances, the harvest of wild lady's slipper root is often not sustainable. Cultivation is challenging, and the plant has not been widely grown for the medicinal herb market. Cypripedium, along with other orchid species, is listed in Appendix II of CITES, making it illegal to export any part of the plant without a permit. In 1988, the American Herbal Products Association issued a self-regulatory initiative for its members requiring them to refrain from trade in
 wild-harvested Cypripedium.   Today, there are only a few companies selling lady's slipper or products containing lady's slipper. The plant is still occasionally gathered from the wild for private use by individuals, and is sometimes picked as an ornamental. Perhaps the greatest threat to this plant, however, is habitat loss, since it grows only in a very selective habitat   Cultivation: Pink lady's slipper grows in calcium-containing soils, in forested areas. It has thus far proven nearly impossible to cultivate in a way that would make it feasible as a cash crop. It requires that certain fungal mycelia be present in the soil, so it is almost necessary to grow it in a forested area which either does contain wild lady's slipper, or is at least the type of environment where it is normally found. Usually this means a wet forest area, with dappled shade. Success has been reported in growing lady's slippers in a controlled laboratory environment, but the cost of this generally
 makes it unprofitable as a medicinal herb. 
  
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Anthony J. Hayes, PresidentRidge Runner Trading Company, Inc.P.O. Box 391Boone, NC 28607PH: 828.264.3615FX: 828.262.3605herbalogic at yahoo.com
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