This species for a little while was unfortunately the target species for thieves as many institutions and nurseries world wide were having problems keeping their plants from being stolen. Many botanical gardens reported thefts of plants over the past few years which forced them to remove plants from public (even staff!) viewing and access. But what made such a plant the subject of high value in collectors’ eyes? It’s history is quite interesting and rather sad as this species for the longest time was driven near extinction in its native habitat of Brazilian Atlantic rainforests in Esperito Santo. For the longest time only a few specimens were left alive in a very small micro niche until recently where another site was discovered with more plants and will be kept hidden for the sake of conserving this species. Luckily the plant market has responded with South American and Asian nurseries tissue culturing it to mass produce clones to dissuade the temptations of dubious collectors and satisfy the market demand thus has dramatically reduced its once multi thousand dollar pricetags this species commanded. Here at Atlas we sourced our plants from Brazil and a generous friend from Belgium with most grown in Ecuador and a few offered at a time in the concrete jungle of Los Angeles.
