Plant thieves are making life miserable for botanical gardens and collectors of cyads in the Southern United States.

The thieves (are) after cycads, palmlike plants so prized that a rare
specimen can fetch $20,000 or more on the international black market.
Some species have been around since the time of the dinosaurs but are
now close to extinction.

In September, thieves broke into the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden
in Coral Gables, Florida, taking advantage of the evacuation for
Hurricane Frances, and stole more than 30 cycads. "In the black market,
some species of cycads are like a fine piece of art — like a Picasso,"
garden spokeswoman Nannette Zapata said at the time.

Some species are essentially priceless and, if stolen, couldn’t be displayed.

"It
would be like having a stolen Picasso. Everybody would know that
plant," said Julian Duval, executive director of Quail Botanical
Gardens in Encinitas, which locked its most precious cycads in a
greenhouse after a theft nearly two years ago.

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Thieves target rare, valuable plants

Sunday, December 12, 2004 Posted: 2312 GMT (0712 HKT)

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	Horticulturist Jason Kubrock says cycads are "the hot, trendy plant right now."
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	In the black market, some species of cycads are like a fine piece of art — like a Picasso. — Nannette Zapata, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden spokeswoman YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS Follow the news that matters to you. Create your own alert to be notified on topics you’re interested in. Or, visit Popular Alerts for suggestions. Manage alerts | What is this?

COSTA MESA, California (AP)  — The thieves struck at night and knew just what they were after.

In
minutes, they ripped two plants from the lavish landscaping at a home
in this Los Angeles suburb, then fled when the homeowner woke up and
turned on a porch light.

Total haul: $3,500.

The thieves
were after cycads, palmlike plants so prized that a rare specimen can
fetch $20,000 or more on the international black market. Some species
have been around since the time of the dinosaurs but are now close to
extinction.

The plants have been targeted in a wave of thefts in
California and Florida, provoking anger and a little paranoia among
collectors and staff at botanical gardens.

"No one talks about
what they have anymore because they are just afraid," said Tom Broome,
a nursery owner in Polk City, Florida, and president of the Cycad
Society. The organization, with 500 members in 20 countries, promotes
efforts to save the plants.

Some nurseries and gardens have added
security, but homes are vulnerable. The thieves who struck in the
Orange County city of Costa Mesa only had to enter the front yard to
get the pair of cycads from a collection of some 50 species on the
property.

One, valued at $2,000, was an obvious target: a
4-foot-tall cycad (pronounced ‘sigh-cad’) from southern Mexico with a
knobby, barrel-shaped trunk that resembled a giant pineapple with
emerald frond-like leaves.

The owner doesn’t want his name
disclosed because he fears thieves will return, especially for an
African specimen that he hopes will finance a year of college for one
of his kids.

"If someone found out I had it here they’d do anything to get it," he said.

Nearly
everyone involved with cycads has a story of theft. One nursery owner
in the San Diego area, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said
he’s been hit twice in the past 18 months and has had to add $50,000
worth of security.

In September, thieves broke into the Fairchild
Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables, Florida, taking advantage of
the evacuation for Hurricane Frances, and stole more than 30 cycads.
"In the black market, some species of cycads are like a fine piece of
art — like a Picasso," garden spokeswoman Nannette Zapata said at the
time.

It’s gotten bad enough that some have given up on the
plants, which despite their palmlike appearance are more closely
related to pine trees.

"You’re just growing them up for someone
else to steal and make a profit," laments Arthur Gibson, director of a
botanical garden at the University of California, Los Angeles, which
stopped acquiring cycads after someone pilfered part of its collection.
"It’s really depressing."

An international black market

There
are about 300 species of cycad, and most are threatened with
extinction. They are generally tropical or subtropical — with some of
the most coveted found in southern Africa, Australia and South America.

Imports
are restricted under an international treaty. Some species are
essentially priceless and, if stolen, couldn’t be displayed.

"It
would be like having a stolen Picasso. Everybody would know that
plant," said Julian Duval, executive director of Quail Botanical
Gardens in Encinitas, which locked its most precious cycads in a
greenhouse after a theft nearly two years ago.

Mike Maunder,
director of Florida’s Fairchild garden, suspects that thieves may be
stealing to fill orders for an international black market most active
in supplying collectors in the United States, Mexico, the Bahamas and
South Africa.

"There are people who want to collect the rarest of
the rare, and they are willing to support an illegal market so they can
get the stuff that they ordinarily wouldn’t be able to get," he said.

"Cycads are just the hot, trendy plant right now," said Jason Kubrock, a horticulturist at Quail Botanical Gardens.

Quail now features security cameras, guards and regular patrols by the sheriff’s department.

And
in Costa Mesa, the private collector has moved his most prized plants
out of sidewalk view and is much more cautious about showing off his
yard.

"It’s a shame, because I’m in it for the beauty of the plants," he said.