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Simply amazing, part of the reason I keep reading here is that things I would never suspect just appear. So knowing that people do come here and go elsewhere f

Simply amazing, part of the reason I keep reading here is that things I would never suspect just appear. So knowing that people do come here and go elsewhere for cacti we can assume other types of plants are susceptible as well. Also based on this knowledge, is there any danger to purposefully spreading certain lines to other parts of the world? Surely there are similar environments which might become home to a transplanted variety, the danger is that its no invasive or dangerous to other specie.

Xylakant 11y ago
> Surely there are similar environments which might become home to a transplanted variety, the danger is that its no invasive or dangerous to other specie. This happens all the time. For example the giant hogweed (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heracleum_mantegazzianum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heracleum_mantegazzianum) was introduced in Europe as an ornamental flower. It displaces native species and on top of that is highly phototoxic.
Symbiote 11y ago
> So knowing that people do come here and go elsewhere for cacti we can assume other types of plants are susceptible as well Yes, absolutely. Animals make the news more (rhinos, lions etc), but the plant groups of cacti, orchids and bromeliads are very desirable to certain collectors. A $500 fine — and presumably a ban on returning to the USA — doesn't seem like much deterrent. That's not covered a fraction of the cost of the investigation, and is very small compared to the black-market value of the plants.
- matt_morgan 11y ago
  Agreed on the fine. I wish the article had said something about what happens beyond the fine ... will these people be barred from entering the country? Is there a list that will help people keep them out of other countries?
Grishnakh 11y ago
Invasive species are certainly a concern with a lot of things: just look at how Kudzu has taken over so much stuff in the American southeast. However, cacti I would think would be unproblematic, especially saguaros. Saguaro cacti are huge when mature, but it takes over a century to reach that size. They're very slow-growing. They're not going to overtake any land on their own unless you intentionally ignore it for a few centuries. Moreover, they only do well in the Sonoran desert where the climate is right for them, and there's no competition or predators. They wouldn't last anywhere where anything could eat them (not likely with the spines of course), or where the weather killed them off (they probably can't handle freezing temperatures very much). They can't even handle too much wind: their root systems are very shallow, and they tend to fall down in storms when they're old. Young and middle-aged ones that are transplanted are normally propped up with 2x4 lumber for a while to let their roots grow more; it's an extremely common sight in Arizona in places with new development where they transplanted some cacti in for landscaping.

Xylakant 11y ago

> Surely there are similar environments which might become home to a transplanted variety, the danger is that its no invasive or dangerous to other specie. This happens all the time. For example the giant hogweed (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heracleum_mantegazzianum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heracleum_mantegazzianum) was introduced in Europe as an ornamental flower. It displaces native species and on top of that is highly phototoxic.

Symbiote 11y ago

> So knowing that people do come here and go elsewhere for cacti we can assume other types of plants are susceptible as well Yes, absolutely. Animals make the news more (rhinos, lions etc), but the plant groups of cacti, orchids and bromeliads are very desirable to certain collectors. A $500 fine — and presumably a ban on returning to the USA — doesn't seem like much deterrent. That's not covered a fraction of the cost of the investigation, and is very small compared to the black-market value of the plants.

matt_morgan 11y ago
Agreed on the fine. I wish the article had said something about what happens beyond the fine ... will these people be barred from entering the country? Is there a list that will help people keep them out of other countries?

Grishnakh 11y ago

Invasive species are certainly a concern with a lot of things: just look at how Kudzu has taken over so much stuff in the American southeast. However, cacti I would think would be unproblematic, especially saguaros. Saguaro cacti are huge when mature, but it takes over a century to reach that size. They're very slow-growing. They're not going to overtake any land on their own unless you intentionally ignore it for a few centuries. Moreover, they only do well in the Sonoran desert where the climate is right for them, and there's no competition or predators. They wouldn't last anywhere where anything could eat them (not likely with the spines of course), or where the weather killed them off (they probably can't handle freezing temperatures very much). They can't even handle too much wind: their root systems are very shallow, and they tend to fall down in storms when they're old. Young and middle-aged ones that are transplanted are normally propped up with 2x4 lumber for a while to let their roots grow more; it's an extremely common sight in Arizona in places with new development where they transplanted some cacti in for landscaping.