Natural History Wanderings

The New York Times reports

Police search the desert trying to track down the poachers selling Conophytums to collectors worldwide, threatening to wipe out rare plants in the wild.

Conophytum, a genus of flowering plants that consists of over 100 species — including several listed as endangered — are the latest victims of a global wave of succulent poaching driven by surging demand from collectors and enthusiasts around the world, but especially in China and Korea, experts said.

Read article at In South Africa, Poachers Now Traffic in Tiny Succulent Plants – The New York Times