[MPWG] Fw: Pink Lady's Slipper cultivation

[Tony Hayes]

Hello again folks,
   
  Patricia has made a good point in reminding us that the initial post requested info specific to cultivation and not regulatory listing. 
   
  While I am not aware of which Fungal mycelia is essential for the survival of C. acaule under cultivation, I understood from the grower I referenced that pollination was his biggest hurdle. To imitate a specific wasp he used cotton tip swabs to transfer pollen between individuals.
   
  Also levels of decaying matter on the forest floor increased at a higher than normal rate during the site manipulation and enhancement studies carried on in Quebec.  Basically evergreen tree thinning and mulch mowing where the two main tools used on the test site with the largest population increase of C. acaule. 
   
  My personal observations in the wild have shown me a common relationship with evergreen trees and their decaying barks. My guess is someone has already tested soil samples taken from within native populations for microbials, etc. and hopefully we can all get a chance to learn about it.  
   
  Many of you may have noticed that I very rarely respond to these postings even though I review them regularly. I have been monitoring the MPWG list serve for a good while with many thanks to you all for your participation. I must admit this particular situation struck a nerve of mine. 
   
  As to references for habitat destruction and effect on medicinal plants I will first refer to reports given last November during an American Ginseng workshop sponsored by the KY Dept. Ag. and concerning loss of habitat through development as the largest single reason for loss of test plots during the State sponsored multi year monitoring program. I assume these findings are reported periodically to FWS/OSA and are on file.
  Here is an article many of us read just last week on Mountain Top removal www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-04-18-mines_N.htm
  I want to put in a plug for Appalachian Voices here in Boone, NC so please check out www.ilovemountains.org/multimedia  for a better idea of what's going on in, or should I say coming off our mountains?
    
  Best regards,
  Tony

Patricia_DeAngelis at fws.gov wrote:
  
Hi Tony!   

Thanks for your message.  I just want to clarify that Gary is asking about cultivation information.  This e-mail was not an announcement of listing action.   

The "article" below is an excerpt from the "Plants" button on the MPWG website (which is called Green Medicine, <www.nps.gov/plants/medicinal>).  The information is a bit dated as it was written a few years back and I hope that we can soon update it.   

According to the NatureServe website (http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/), which is an important source of information for the federal government, the global status of this species is secure.   
          U.S. & Canada State/Province Status     United States   Alabama (S3), Connecticut (SNR), Delaware (S5), District of Columbia (SNR), Georgia (S4), Illinois (S1), Indiana (S3), Kentucky (S4), Maine (SNR), Maryland (SNR), Massachusetts (SNR), Michigan (SNR), Minnesota (SNR), New Hampshire (SNR), New Jersey (S4), New York (S4), North Carolina (S5), Ohio (SNR), Pennsylvania (SNR), Rhode Island (S4), South Carolina (SNR), Tennessee (S4), Vermont (SNR), Virginia (S5), West Virginia (S5), Wisconsin (SNR)     Canada   Alberta (S3), Labrador (SU), Manitoba (S4), New Brunswick (S4S5), Newfoundland Island (S4), Northwest Territories (SNR), Nova Scotia (S5), Ontario (S5), Prince Edward Island (S5), Quebec (S5), Saskatchewan (S4?) 

It's important to be cautious in using this information as it is not complete about this information as it is not complete (State-by-state status varies from no information to secure) and may not have been updated recently (the status hasn't changed since 1984; the status was reviewed in 2002).  But, it's important to note the listing in Appendix II of CITES makes it illegal to export without a permit - not illegal to export.   

I think you are absolutely right that issues such as fair trade, community forestry, sustainable livelihoods should not be thought of as something you do abroad.  Our country needs to be more introspective, we need to stop sending our graduate students overseas to do their research, we need to have more US-based development/funding programs that facilitate opportunities for value-added medicinal plant products WITHIN the regions that they are harvested, we need to do a better job of tracking and accounting for the monetary value of medicinal plants to our economies and livelihoods, we need to value the harvesters and the products a lot more than we do.   

Unfortunately, I don't have the time to pull something together, but would I'd be interested in seeing more information on the effect of habitat destruction on medcinal plants - are you aware of any recent information or analysis that could serve as a starting point?   

Thank you, 
-Patricia 


Patricia S. De Angelis, Ph.D.
Botanist - Division of Scientific Authority
Chair - Plant Conservation Alliance - Medicinal Plant Working Group
US Fish & Wildlife Service
4401 N. Fairfax Dr., Suite 750
Arlington, VA  22203
703-358-1708 x1753
FAX: 703-358-2276
Working for the conservation and sustainable use of our green natural resources.
<www.nps.gov/plants/medicinal>



        Tony Hayes <herbalogic at yahoo.com>   04/25/2007 11:28 PM 
            To
  Patricia_DeAngelis at fws.gov, mpwg at lists.plantconservation.org       cc
        Subject
  Re: [MPWG] Fw: Pink Lady's Slipper cultivation
          



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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Any advice given on this list regarding diagnosis or treatments etc. reflects ONLY the opinion of the individual who posts the message. The information contained in posts is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice relative to your specific medical condition or question. All medical and other healthcare information that is discussed on this list should be carefully reviewed by the individual reader and their qualified healthcare professional. Posts do not reflect any official opinions or positions of the Plant Conservation Alliance. 


    Anthony J. Hayes, President 
Ridge Runner Trading Company, Inc. 
P.O. Box 391 
Boone, NC 28607 
PH: 828.264.3615 
FX: 828.262.3605 
herbalogic at yahoo.com 
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MPWG at lists.plantconservation.org
http://lists.plantconservation.org/mailman/listinfo/mpwg_lists.plantconservation.org

To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to MPWG-request at lists.plantconservation.org with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line.

Disclaimer 
Any advice given on this list regarding diagnosis or treatments etc. reflects ONLY the opinion of the individual who posts the message. The information contained in posts is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice relative to your specific medical condition or question. All medical and other healthcare information that is discussed on this list should be carefully reviewed by the individual reader and their qualified healthcare professional. Posts do not reflect any official opinions or positions of the Plant Conservation Alliance. 





 
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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