"east Bohemia. ... more than 600 protected orchids were stolen from a nature reserve in the marshes of the Orlické Mountains region. The theft, discovered June 26...
flowers... of... Dactylorhiza majalis... had been dug up... The blooms were hacked off and discarded at the scene before the bulbs were packed into a vehicle and taken away... The thieves plundered two separate meadows, covering nearly 13 hectares (32 acres) near the town of Nové M sto nad Metují. ... Known in English as the broad-leaved marsh orchid or western marsh orchid, its... purplish blooms and speckled leaves... the flowers are not considered overly rare or endangered. It's one of around 50 orchid varieties growing in the Czech Republic, mostly in remote nature reserves like the Orlické Mountains. The plant is in demand by both botanists and florists and will likely fetch a decent price on the black market, said Eduard Chvosta of the Prague Botanical Garden." article URL: http://www.praguepost.com/P03/2006/Art/0720/news4.php ********** regards, VB _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [email protected] http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
