Is it illegal to harvest Carnivorous Plants here?

Jonathan

Carnivorous Plant Addict
Just wondering is it illegal to harvest wild CP's from the wild here in Canada? Like Purps,D.Intermedia,D.Rotundifolia?Pings?
 

Raymond

Carnivorous Plant Addict
Yes, they are all on the endangered species list (maybe not rotundifolia) and we as a society do not like it when people get plants from the wild. If you know someone on private land who has them taking some seeds is fine if you want to have a location to the plant, but again don't go hunting for CP's
 

Jonathan

Carnivorous Plant Addict
Yes, they are all on the endangered species list (maybe not rotundifolia) and we as a society do not like it when people get plants from the wild. If you know someone on private land who has them taking some seeds is fine if you want to have a location to the plant, but again don't go hunting for CP's
I would never do this myself I was just wondering out of genuine curiosity. I do go hunting for CP's but when I do I leave nothing but footprints.
 
I have to disagree here.
In the age of internet, we discuss things with people from all around the world and indeed, in most places, carnivorous plants natural habitats are being destroyed and the little population left are vulnerable. Indeed, in those high density human population / vulnerable nature ratio, collecting wild plant can be problematic ... even sphagnum moss is protected in some countries ... But what is true elsewhere does not necessarily hold true here in Canada. We are small population / huuuuge wilderness... bogs are far from being rare (at least in the eastern Canada)... and whenever you find a bog, you probably have some cps in it. Actually, even when you don't find a bog, you still might have some cps next to you... for example, I remember fishing in north of Quebec and whenever we pulled the hook, we always had some benthic Utricularia weed stuck on it... I didn't take any but had I kept some, i don't think it would be an issue. Even in road trenches I've seen some utricularia and droseras...

I'm not aware of any law protecting purpurea, rotundifolia, intermedia or anglica here... not only that, you even have books that explain how to make traditional medicine out of carnivorous plants or how to use sarracenia leafs to cook food or... as a source of water when in desperate need (yuk)... lol
that being said you might have protection status for all form of life in national parks etc...
other vulnerable species might be protected depending on location, like filiformis in NS. You'd have to check with local regulation and protection status.

I'm not saying to go collect wild plants, but who in Canada doesn't know someone who knows someone who knows someone who collected some wild plants?
:)
 

Lloyd Gordon

Cactus micrografter newbie.
Staff member
We've discussed this before. I'm not the expert on where it's legal to collect or not. Certainly noone would mind taking some Utrics from lakes where they are incredibly prolific. (It would be harder than you think to keep them alive, though.)
In general, it's not a great idea. Everything is easily available from sources that are remote from wild collecting. Also in my opinion, it's just good to be part of the world, where almost always, wild collecting is deleterious.
It's like going through a stop sign at 3 am when nobody is around. Probably nothing bad will happen. However, by stopping, you become part of the bigger picture of being a good citizen and you really are only slightly discommoded.
Also, (maybe guilty of being politically correct), I want this forum to have a good reputation.
 

stevebradford

Moderator
Staff member
What I can do to reduce wild harvesting is donate seed to our seed bank and give away seeds. I have 4 more packs of Drosera rotundifolia and hope to have lots more after this summer to donate. I also hope to have Drosera anglica seed this year. I don’t grow purps right now perhaps it was the harbouring of mosquitos was the reason i haven’t grown a bunch but regardless I need to grow some and when I do I will donate what I can.
 
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Hal

Carnivorous Plant Addict
Staff member
There's so much of this world that we've paved, polluted, razed for monoculture farming and built upon that I think it's a great idea to leave what's left as natural as possible. And that includes your own backyard.
 
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