Wild nepenthes seeds?

veer

Seed
Hi all,
I noticed a site called nepseeds, it seems (to my understanding) that they take wild seed pods from various nepenthes and sell them. Of course I really want to get some, but I put sustainability above my own desires. Looking for some advice if this is a harmful practice that I, and others should not support.

Thanks.
 
I had noticed that site too. If I hadn't recently acquired a bunch of nepenthes seeds from the forum, I'd probably be buying from there. However, I would recommend looking through here first: https://www.iucnredlist.org/search?query=nepenthes&searchType=species

Lots of nepenthes species aren't particularly threatened, and I'd argue that as long as that's the case, it's basically fine to collect their seeds from the wild. I'd buy (eg) the N. diatas seeds, which have a stable population level and are rated as "least concern". I would NOT buy (eg) the N. aristolochioides seeds, which are sold out anyway. :confused: I'd be really really hesitant with the N. micramphora seeds, which I don't even see listed on the IUCN Redlist site, because I'd be worried that that means there aren't enough plants in the wild to even merit listing.
 
Its almost definitely fake. Im fairly certain they just sell random wild collected lowland seeds as rare highland species. A lot (if not all) of their pictures are stolen (just do a reverse Google image search).
For some of those rarer species, a single seed would go for close to what they're selling a pod for, even if they are poached. I highly doubt youd get any germination at all from their seeds but if you do they won't be what you're expecting.
 
Since wild collecting is usually criminal or unethical, it's to be expected that they would cheat you.
Reminds me of a gang in India that got people to come to India to buy a cheap kidney from a destitute person. When they arrive, they beat them and steal everything. They couldn't complain because it was criminal.
As the saying goes: he who sups with the devil needs a long spoon.
 
It totally could be fake or semi-fake. But I was sort-of encouraged to see that they (apparently) don't just always have the same selection of seeds.
 
It looks like this site is based in Singapore. If so, this article from the Singapore cp society is worth a read. Essentially, illegal and unsustainable wild collecting is endangering nepenthes. https://sgcarnivorousplantsociety.m...rving-earths-carnivorous-marvels-bd4dcd5d8ff4

Also, simply because a plant isn’t currently listed as endangered doesn’t make it a good idea to collect wile plants or seeds. That’s precisely how they can become endangered.
 
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