Tecophilaea rediscovered
Jane McGary (Fri, 02 Apr 2004 08:25:33 PST)

Rodger Whitlock wrote,I hope everyone will forgive me for being such a
cynic, but I

This gives me a chance to quote one of John Watson's best lines (I'm
quoting from memory, so this may not be utterly verbatim), to the effect
that the assumed extinction of T. cyanocrocus was "more likely to have
resulted from overgrazing than from spade-wielding peasants in the pay of
villainous Dutchmen." The habitat of this plant has been subjected to
cattle and goat grazing at a level utterly unsustainable in such an arid
environment for more than three centuries, so that in many areas little
remains but seriously spiny shrubs and unpalatable plants such as the
cushion umbellifers.

In fact, Chile has an active conservation community, although excluding
local pastoralists from sensitive sites is very difficult for them. One
result of this activism is extreme difficulty in getting permits to take
native plant material out of Chile, including seeds.

Jane McGary
Northwestern Oregon